![LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, Third Edition
by Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and James
Stanger
Copyright © 2010 Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and
James Stanger. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online
editions are also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more infor-
mation, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or
corporate@oreilly.com.
Editor: Andy Oram
Production Editor: Adam Zaremba
Copyeditor: Genevieve d’Entremont
Proofreader: Jennifer Knight
Indexer: Jay Marchand
Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery
Interior Designer: David Futato
Illustrator: Robert Romano
Printing History:
May 2001: First Edition.
July 2006: Second Edition.
June 2010: Third Edition.
Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trade-
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related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are
claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media,
Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and
authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the
use of the information contained herein.
TM
This book uses RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.
ISBN: 978-0-596-80487-9
[M]
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LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell Third Edition Adam Haeder
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- 5. LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell Third Edition Adam Haeder Digital Instant Download Author(s): AdamHaeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, James Stanger ISBN(s): 9780596804879, 0596804873 Edition: Third Edition File Details: PDF, 3.58 MB Year: 2010 Language: english
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- 10. LPI LINUX CERTIFICATION IN A NUTSHELL Third Edition Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and James Stanger Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Köln • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo
- 11. LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, Third Edition by Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and James Stanger Copyright © 2010 Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and James Stanger. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more infor- mation, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com. Editor: Andy Oram Production Editor: Adam Zaremba Copyeditor: Genevieve d’Entremont Proofreader: Jennifer Knight Indexer: Jay Marchand Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery Interior Designer: David Futato Illustrator: Robert Romano Printing History: May 2001: First Edition. July 2006: Second Edition. June 2010: Third Edition. Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trade- marks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, the image of a bull, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. TM This book uses RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. ISBN: 978-0-596-80487-9 [M] 1276182761
- 12. Table of Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii 1. LPI Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Exam 101 Study Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Exam Preparation 5 3. System Architecture (Topic 101.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Objective 1: Determine and Configure Hardware Settings 7 BIOS 7 USB Topology 10 USB Controllers 10 USB Devices 11 USB Drivers 11 USB Hotplug 12 Reporting Your Hardware 12 Manipulating Modules 14 Device Management Definitions 20 4. Change Runlevels and Shut Down or Reboot System (Topics 101.2 and 101.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Objective 2: Boot the System 21 Boot-time Kernel Parameters 21 Introduction to Kernel Module Configuration 22 Objective 3: Change Runlevels and Shut Down or Reboot System 24 Single-User Mode 25 Overview of the /etc Directory Tree and the init Process 26 v
- 13. Setting the Default Runlevel 28 Determining Your System’s Runlevel 28 5. Linux Installation and Package Management (Topic 102) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Objective 1: Design a Hard Disk Layout 34 System Considerations 34 Swap Space 37 General Guidelines 38 Objective 2: Install a Boot Manager 38 LILO 39 GRUB 41 Objective 3: Manage Shared Libraries 44 Shared Library Dependencies 44 Linking Shared Libraries 45 Objective 4: Use Debian Package Management 46 Debian Package Management Overview 46 Managing Debian Packages 47 Objective 5: Use Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) 52 RPM Overview 52 Running rpm 53 YUM Overview 58 6. GNU and Unix Commands (Topic 103) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Objective 1: Work on the Command Line 64 The Interactive Shell 65 Command History and Editing 71 Manpages 75 Objective 2: Process Text Streams Using Filters 77 Objective 3: Perform Basic File Management 91 Filesystem Objects 91 File-Naming Wildcards (File Globbing) 100 Objective 4: Use Streams, Pipes, and Redirects 102 Standard I/O and Default File Descriptors 102 Pipes 103 Redirection 104 Using the tee Command 106 The xargs Command 106 Objective 5: Create, Monitor, and Kill Processes 107 Processes 107 Process Monitoring 108 Signaling Active Processes 115 Terminating Processes 117 Shell Job Control 118 Objective 6: Modify Process Execution Priorities 120 nice 120 Objective 7: Search Text Files Using Regular Expressions 123 vi | Table of Contents
- 14. Regular Expression Syntax 123 Using grep 125 Using sed 127 Examples 130 Objective 8: Perform Basic File Editing Operations Using vi 135 Invoking vi 135 vi Basics 135 7. Devices, Linux Filesystems, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (Topic 104) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Objective 1: Create Partitions and Filesystems 140 Disk Drives Under Linux 140 Objective 2: Maintain the Integrity of Filesystems 151 Monitoring Free Disk Space and Inodes 151 Monitoring Disk Usage 153 Modifying a Filesystem 154 Checking and Repairing Filesystems 157 Objective 3: Control Filesystem Mounting and Unmounting 161 Managing the Filesystem Table 161 Mounting Filesystems 163 Unmounting Filesystems 166 Objective 4: Set and View Disk Quotas 167 Quota Limits 168 Quota Commands 169 Enabling Quotas 175 Objective 5: Manage File Permissions and Ownership 176 Linux Access Control 176 Setting Access Modes 181 Setting Up a Workgroup Directory 186 Objective 6: Create and Change Hard and Symbolic Links 187 Why Links? 188 Objective 7: Find System Files and Place Files in the Correct Location 192 Datatypes 193 The root Filesystem 194 Locating Files 200 8. Exam 101 Review Questions and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 System Architecture (Topic 101) 205 Review Questions 205 Exercises 206 Linux Installation and Package Management (Topic 102) 206 Review Questions 206 Exercises 207 GNU and Unix Commands (Topic 103) 208 Review Questions 208 Exercises 208 Table of Contents | vii
- 15. Devices, Linux Filesystems, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (Topic 104) 211 Review Questions 211 Exercises 212 9. Exam 101 Practice Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Questions 215 Answers 226 10. Exam 101 Highlighter’s Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 System Architecture 229 Objective 101.1: Determine and Configure Hardware Settings 229 Objective 101.2: Boot the System 230 Objective 101.3: Change Runlevels and Shut Down or Reboot System 230 Linux Installation and Package Management 230 Objective 102.1: Design Hard Disk Layout 230 Objective 102.2: Install a Boot Manager 231 Objective 102.3: Manage Shared Libraries 231 Objective 102.4: Use Debian Package Management 232 Objective 102.5: Use Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) 232 GNU and Unix Commands 232 Objective 103.1: Work on the Command Line 232 Objective 103.2: Process Text Streams Using Filters 233 Objective 103.3: Perform Basic File Management 235 Objective 103.4: Use Streams, Pipes, and Redirects 237 Objective 103.5: Create, Monitor, and Kill Processes 238 Objective 103.6: Modify Process Execution Priorities 239 Objective 103.7: Search Text Files Using Regular Expressions 239 Objective 103.8: Perform Basic File Editing Operations Using vi 241 Devices, Linux Filesystems, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard 243 Objective 104.1: Create Partitions and Filesystems 243 Objective 104.2: Maintain the Integrity of Filesystems 244 Objective 104.3: Control Filesystem Mounting and Unmounting 244 Objective 104.4: Set and View Disk Quotas 246 Objective 104.5: Manage File Permissions and Ownership 246 Objective 104.6: Create and Change Hard and Symbolic Links 248 Objective 104.7: Find System Files and Place Files in the Correct Location 248 11. Exam 102 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 12. Exam 102 Study Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Exam Preparation 253 viii | Table of Contents
- 16. 13. Shells, Scripting, and Data Management (Topic 105) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Objective 1: Customize and Use the Shell Environment 256 An Overview of Shells 256 The Bash Shell 257 Objective 2: Customize or Write Simple Scripts 267 Script Files 267 Basic Bash Scripts 272 Objective 3: SQL Data Management 285 Accessing a MySQL Server 285 Database Overview 287 Aggregate Functions 292 Multitable Queries 293 14. The X Window System (Topic 106) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 An Overview of X 298 Objective 1: Install and Configure X11 298 Selecting and Configuring an X Server 299 X Fonts 306 Controlling X Applications with .Xresources 308 Objective 2: Set Up a Display Manager 308 Configuring xdm 308 X Terminals 311 Configuring KDM 311 Configuring GDM 314 Objective 3: Accessibility 316 15. Administrative Tasks (Topic 107) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Objective 1: Manage User and Group Accounts and Related System Files 319 User Accounts and the Password File 320 Groups and the Group File 321 The Shadow Password and Shadow Group Systems 322 User and Group Management Commands 323 Objective 2: Automate System Administration Tasks by Scheduling Jobs 326 Using cron 326 Using at 329 Controlling User Access to cron and at 330 Objective 3: Localization and Internationalization 330 16. Essential System Services (Topics 108.1 and 108.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Objective 1: Maintain System Time 333 NTP Concepts 334 The NTP Software Package Components 334 The Hardware Clock 339 Table of Contents | ix
- 17. Time Zones 340 Objective 2: System Logging 341 Configuring syslogd 341 Client/Server Logging 343 Logfile Rotation 343 Examining Logfiles 344 17. Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) Basics (Topic 108.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Objective 3: Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) Basics 347 Configuration of Sendmail 348 Configuration of Postfix 351 Configuration of Qmail 353 Configuration of Exim 354 18. Manage Printers and Printing (Topic 108.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Objective 4: Manage Printers and Printing 355 An Overview of Printing 355 BSD and System V Interfaces 356 LPRng 356 CUPS 357 Troubleshooting General Printing Problems 365 The Error Logfile 365 The Page Logfile 366 The Access Logfile 366 Using the cups-config Utility for Debugging 366 19. Networking Fundamentals (Topic 109.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Objective 1: Fundamentals of Internet Protocols 369 Network Addressing 370 Masks 372 Protocols 374 Services 376 Utilities 377 20. Basic Network Configuration (Topics 109.2 and 109.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Objective 2: Basic Network Configuration and Objective 4: Configuring Client Side DNS 383 Network Interfaces 384 DHCP 390 A Standard Linux Network Configuration 393 21. Basic Network Troubleshooting (Topic 109.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 Objective 3: Basic Network Troubleshooting 395 x | Table of Contents
- 18. 22. Security (Topic 110.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 Objective 1: Perform Security Administration Tasks 405 The (In)Security of SUID 406 User IDs and Passwords 411 Shadow Passwords 414 Setting Limits on Users 418 Querying System Services 422 23. Set Up Host Security (Topic 110.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Objective 2: Set Up Host Security 431 The Super-Server 431 Security with TCP_WRAPPERS 437 24. Securing Data with Encryption (Topic 110.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 Objective 3: Securing Data With Encryption 442 Using Secure Shell (SSH) 442 Installation and Configuration 443 DSA and RSA Overview 444 Generating and Using Keys 444 The Server Public and Private Key 447 ssh-agent 447 Other SSH Tricks 449 SSH Port Forwarding 450 Configuring OpenSSH 450 Configuring and Using GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) 451 Generating a Key Pair 451 Importing a Public Key to a GPG Keyring 453 Signing Keys 453 Listing Keys 453 Export both a Public and Private Key 454 Encrypting a File 454 Troubleshooting Files in the ~/.gnupg/ Directory 454 25. Exam 102 Review Questions and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 Shells, Scripting, and Data Management (Topic 105) 457 Review Questions 457 Exercises 458 The X Window System (Topic 106) 458 Review questions 458 Exercises 458 Administrative Tasks (Topic 107) 459 Review questions 459 Exercises 459 Essential System Services (Topic 108) 460 Review Questions 460 Table of Contents | xi
- 19. Exercises 460 Networking Fundamentals (Topic 109) 461 Review Questions 461 Exercises 462 Security (Topic 110) 462 Review Questions 462 Exercises 463 26. Exam 102 Practice Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 Questions 465 Answers 473 27. Exam 102 Highlighter’s Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 Shells, Scripting, and Data Management 475 Objective 105.1: Customize and Use the Shell Environment 475 Objective 105.2: Customize or Write Simple Scripts 476 Objective 105.3: SQL Data Management 476 The X Window System 477 Objective 106.1: Install and Configure X11 477 Objective 106.2: Set Up a Display Manager 477 Objective 106.3: Accessibility 477 Administrative Tasks 477 Objective 107.1: Manage User and Group Accounts and Related System Files 477 Objective 107.2: Automate System Administration Tasks by Scheduling Jobs 478 Objective 107.3: Localization and Internationalization 479 Essential System Services 480 Objective 108.1: Maintain System Time 480 Objective 108.2: System Logging 480 Objective 108.3: Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) Basics 481 Objective 108.4: Manage Printers and Printing 481 Networking Fundamentals 482 Objective 109.1: Fundamentals of Internet Protocols 482 Objective 109.2: Basic Network Configuration 483 Objective 109.3: Basic Network Troubleshooting 484 Objective 109.4: Configuring Client Side DNS 484 Security 484 Objective 110.1: Perform Security Administration Tasks 484 Objective 110.2: Set Up Host Security 485 Objective 110.3: Securing Data with Encryption 485 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487 xii | Table of Contents
- 20. Preface Certification of professionals is a time-honored tradition in many fields, including medicine and law. As small computer systems and networks proliferated over the last decade, Novell and Microsoft produced extremely popular technical certifica- tion products for their respective operating system and network technologies. These two programs are often cited as having popularized a certification market for prod- ucts that had previously been highly specialized and relatively rare. These programs have become so popular that a huge training and preparation industry has formed to service a constant stream of new certification candidates. Certification programs, offered by vendors such as Sun and Hewlett-Packard, have existed in the Unix world for some time. However, since Solaris and HP-UX aren’t commodity products, those programs don’t draw the crowds that the PC platform does. Linux, however, is different. Linux is both a commodity operating system and is PC-based, and its popularity continues to grow at a rapid pace. As Linux deploy- ment increases, so too does the demand for qualified and certified Linux system administrators. A number of programs such as the Linux Professional Institute (LPI), the Red Hat CertifiedEngineer(RHCE)program,andCompTIA’sLinux+haveformedtoservice this new market. Each of these programs seeks to provide objective measurements of a Linux administrator’s skills, but they approach the problem in different ways. The RHCE program requires that candidates pass multiple exam modules, including two hands-on and one written, whose goals are to certify individuals to use their brand of products. The Linux+ program requires a single exam and is focused at entry-level candidates with six months’ experience. LPI’s program is a job-based certification and currently consists of three levels; this book focuses on the most basic level. xiii
- 21. The Linux Professional Institute The Linux Professional Institute is a nonprofit organization formed with the single goal of providing a standard for vendor-neutral certification. This goal is being ach- ieved by certifying Linux administrators through a modified open source develop- ment process. LPI seeks input from the public for its exam Objectives and questions, and anyone is welcome to participate. It has both paid and volunteer staff and re- ceives funding from some major names in the computer industry. The result is a vendor-neutral, publicly developed program that is offered at a reasonable price. LPI currently organizes its most popular Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC) series in three levels. This book covers the LPIC Level 1 Exams 101 and 102. Level 1 is aimed at junior to midlevel Linux administrators with about two years of practical system administration experience. The Level 1 candidate should be com- fortable with Linux at the command line as well as capable of performing simple tasks, including system installation and troubleshooting. Level 1 certification is re- quired prior to obtaining Level 2 certification status. All of LPI’s exams are based on a published set of technical Objectives. These tech- nical Objectives are posted on LPI’s website and for your convenience printed at the beginning of each chapter within this book. Each Objective set forth by LPI is assigned a numeric weight, which acts as an indicator of the importance of the Ob- jective. Weights run between 1 and 8, with higher numbers indicating more impor- tance. An Objective carrying a weight of 1 can be considered relatively unimportant and isn’t likely to be covered in much depth on the exam. Objectives with larger weights are sure to be covered on the exam, so you should study these closely. The weights of the Objectives are provided at the beginning of each chapter. LPI offers its exams through Pearson VUE, Thomson Prometric, and at on-site lo- cations at special Linux events, such as trade shows. Before registering for any of these testing methods, you need to obtain an LPI ID number by registering directly with LPI. To obtain your LPI ID, visit http://www.lpi.org/register.html. Once you’ve received your LPI ID, you may continue your registration by registering with a testing center or special event. You can link to any of these registration options through LPI’s website. In Vue and Prometric testing centers, the exams are delivered using a PC-based automated examination program. As of this writing, the exams are available in English, Japanese, Chinese (both Traditional and Simplified), German, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Exam questions are presented in three different styles: multiple-choice single-answer, multiple-choice multiple-answer, and fill-in-the- blank. However, the majority of the questions on the exams are multiple-choice single-answer. Also, with the multiple-choice questions, the candidate is told exactly how many answers are correct. For security purposes, multiple forms of each exam are available at testing centers to help minimize memorization and brain dumps of exams if candidates take them multiple times. Due to this, actual question numbers may vary slightly. LPI’s psy- chometric team develops these forms and adjusts the scoring appropriately so all xiv | Preface
- 22. forms are equally difficult. The scores are between 200 and 800, and passing score is 500. Audience for This Book The primary audience for this book is, of course, candidates seeking the LPIC cer- tification. These may range from administrators of other operating systems looking for a Linux certification to complement an MSCE certification to Unix administra- tors wary of a growing pool of Linux-certified job applicants. In any case, this book will help you with the specific information you require to be successful with the Level 1 Exams. Don’t be fooled, however, as book study will not be enough to pass your exams. Remember, practice makes perfect! Due to the breadth of knowledge required by the LPI Objectives and the book’s one- to-one coverage, it also makes an excellent reference for skills and methods required for the day-to-day use of Linux. If you have a basic working understanding of Linux administration, the material in this book will help fill gaps in your knowledge while at the same time preparing you for the LPI Exams, should you choose to take them. This book should also prove to be a valuable introduction for new Linux users and administrators looking for a broad, detailed introduction to Linux. Part of the LPI exam-creation process includes a survey of Linux professionals in the field. The survey results drive much of the content found on the exams. Therefore, unlike general-purpose introductory Linux books, all of the information in this book ap- plies directly to running Linux in the real world. Organization This book is designed to exactly follow the Topics and Objectives established by LPI for Level 1. That means that the presentation doesn’t look like any other Linux book you’ve read. Instead, you can directly track the LPI Objectives and easily measure your progress as you prepare. The book is presented in two parts, one for Exam 101 and the other for Exam 102. Each part contains chapters dedicated to the LPI Topics, and each of those sections contains information on all of the Objectives set forth for the Topic. In addition, each part contains a practice exam (with answers), review questions and exercises, and a handy highlighter’s index that can help you review important details. Book Chapters Each part of this book contains some combination of the following materials: Exam overview Here you find an introduction to the exam along with details about the format of the questions. Preface | xv
- 23. Study guide This chapter offers a few tips to prepare for the LPI Exams and introduces the Objectives contained in the Topic chapters that follow. Topic chapters A separate chapter covers each of the Topic areas on the exam. These chapters provide background information and in-depth coverage for each Objective, with “On the Exam” (see bottom of this page) tips dispersed throughout. Review questions and exercises This chapter reinforces important study areas with review questions. The pur- pose of this section is to provide you with a series of exercises that can be used on a running Linux system to give you valuable hands-on experience before you take the exams. Practice test The practice test is designed to be similar in format and content to the actual LPI Exams. You should be able to attain at least an 80 percent score on the sample test before attempting the live exam. Highlighter’s index This unique chapter contains highlights and important facts culled from the Topic chapters. You can use this as review and reference material prior to taking the actual exams. Conventions Used in This Book This book follows certain typographical conventions: Italic Italic is used to indicate URLs, filenames, directories, commands, options, sys- tem components (such as usernames), and to highlight comments in examples. Constant Width Used to show the contents of files or the output from commands. Constant Width Bold Used in examples and tables to show commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user. Constant Width Italic Used to show arguments and variables that should be replaced with user- supplied values. #, $ Used in some examples as the root shell prompt (#) and as the user prompt ($) under the Bourne or Bash shell. On the Exam Providesinformationaboutareasyoushouldfocusonwhenstudyingfortheexam. xvi | Preface
- 24. Indicates a tip, suggestion, or general note. Indicates a warning or caution. A final word about syntax: in many cases, the space between an option and its ar- gument can be omitted. In other cases, the spacing (or lack of spacing) must be followed strictly. For example, -wn (no intervening space) might be interpreted dif- ferently from -w n. It’s important to notice the spacing used in option syntax. Using Code Examples This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For ex- ample, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly booksdoesrequirepermission.Answeringaquestionbycitingthisbookandquoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission. We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “LPI Linux Certification in a Nut- shell, Third Edition, by Adam Haeder et al. Copyright 2010 Adam Haeder, Stephen Addison Schneiter, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, and James Stanger. ISBN: 9780596804879.” If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given here, feel free to contact us at permissions@oreilly.com. How to Contact Us We have tested and verified the information in this book to the best of our ability, but you may find that features have changed (or even that we have made mistakes!). As a reader of this book and as an LPI examinee, you can help us to improve future editions. Please let us know about any errors you find, as well as your suggestions for future editions, by writing to: O’Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada) Preface | xvii
- 25. 707-829-0515 (international or local) 707-829-0104 (fax) We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, examples, and any additional information. You can access this page at: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596804879 To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send email to: bookquestions@oreilly.com For more information about our books, conferences, Resource Centers, and the O’Reilly Network, see our website at: http://www.oreilly.com If you have taken one or all of the LPIC Exams after preparing with this book and find that parts of this book could better address your exam experience, we’d like to hear about it. Of course, you are under obligation to LPI not to disclose specific exam details, but comments regarding the coverage of the LPI Objectives, level of detail, and relevance to the exam will be most helpful. We take your comments seriously and will do whatever we can to make this book as useful as it can be. Safari® Books Online Safari Books Online is an on-demand digital library that lets you easily search over 7,500 technology and creative reference books and videos to find the answers you need quickly. With a subscription, you can read any page and watch any video from our library online. Read books on your cell phone and mobile devices. Access new titles before they are available for print, and get exclusive access to manuscripts in development and post feedback for the authors. Copy and paste code samples, organize your favorites, download chapters, bookmark key sections, create notes, print out pages, and benefit from tons of other time-saving features. O’Reilly Media has uploaded this book to the Safari Books Online service. To have full digital access to this book and others on similar topics from O’Reilly and other publishers, sign up for free at http://my.safaribooksonline.com. Acknowledgments For the third edition, we thank reviewers Don Corbet, Jon Larsen, Gregor Purdy, Rick Rezinas, G. Matt Rice, and Craig Wolf. Adam Haeder dedicates his work to Tina, Erin, Ethan, Stanley, and Stefon: the rea- son I work so late into the night. Bruno dedicates his work to his grandfather, Oswaldo Cabral Pessanha, in memoriam. xviii | Preface
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- 27. envy; he himself was so completely a fish out of water. "I am grieved indeed to hear of the way you have been treated," said Mayne gently. "Poor girl! I wish you had gone away to Leitersdorp as I suggested." "So do I," said Millie, under her breath. "You thought yourself so secure," he went on regretfully, looking at her bandaged arm. "Well, I'm paying for it," said the girl distinctly, "and got to go on doing that all the rest of my life, so I hear." "Oh, I hope not! You will be all right in a few weeks," he assured her hopefully. "Ah!" said she, "but he's got to be paid, you see, for what he did." She raised her uninjured arm and pointed to Bert, who turned scarlet as he stood awkwardly dandling his flowers. "Men don't help you for nothing; I've found out that much," she said, with biting intention. "I am sure you do Mestaer injustice," said Mayne quietly. "No Englishman could possibly ask anything in return for the privilege of helping a woman." "He says," said Millie, "that I promised to marry him the night he brought me here. I don't remember; but if I did, I got to do it, I s'pose." "Certainly not!" was the emphatic reply. "Get rid of that idea. No man worthy of the name could hold you to a promise made under such circumstances. Besides, you are not free to marry for the next five years. Don't you want to go to England?" The living blood flooded the white face with lovely colour; the eyes flashed fire. "May I? Could I?" she gasped, half raising herself among her pillows, her face transformed with an energy, a desire for life, most strikingly at
- 28. variance with her lethargy of a few minutes before. "Have they written? Do they want me?" He drew a letter from his coat-pocket. "They have written, and they do want you," he said. She sat quite up, unsupported. "Read it! Read it!" Bert stood still as a stone, while Mayne unfolded a sheet of paper, written in a small, niggling, but cultivated hand, and read: "FRANSDALE VICARAGE, CLEVESHIRE. "Dear Sir,—I am in receipt of your letter, and note that my brother-in- law, Arnold Lutwyche, is dying, and leaving my niece, Melicent, only daughter of my late sister, wholly unprovided for. I also note that you consider her Boer step-mother is not a fit person to have the charge of her, and is likely to treat her ill. "Under these circumstances, my duty seems clear, and my wife and I have no hesitation in directing you to send my niece to England by the earliest available boat, and we will give her a home for the present. "At the same time, I must acquaint you with the fact that our means are small, and we have seven children of our own, so that Melicent will be under the necessity of making herself useful. "Please send her by the cheapest line of boats, and notify me of her arrival. I fear that I shall not be able to come to London to meet her, but if she is fifteen or sixteen years old, she should be able to make her way to us as far as the railway will bring her—that is to say, to Birdmore Junction, where she shall be met. "I note that my brother's estate will be sufficient to meet her travelling expenses, so conclude that no advance from me is necessary.
- 29. "With thanks to you for the trouble you take in the matter, and remembrances to Mr. Lutwyche, should this letter find him still alive.—I am, very faithfully yours, "EDMUND CHETWYND-COOPER." This letter had chilled Mayne by its formal coldness. No love was sent to the orphan, no message of welcome. But the frigidity of the style made apparently no difference to Millie. The great fact was there. Her way to England lay open, her destination fixed. Of all safe shelters, a remote English vicarage should have satisfied her guardian. But somehow, to Carol, the idea of Miss Lutwyche in such a situation, was not convincing. He could not see her in the part, as actors say. No such doubts troubled her. For the very first time since Mayne had known her, her face beamed and sparkled with joy. "I can be ready to travel soon," she cried. "In a fortnight—in ten days— ask the doctor!" Bert made three strides across the room, hurling with violence the flowers he carried into the English grate. "So you'll break your word," he began, and choked Melicent turned her head towards him languidly. "Bert Mestaer," said she, "have I ever once, since you knew me, said one word to make you think I liked you?" He fought with himself for composure to enable him to bring out the monosyllable, "No." "Then what d'you wanter marry me for?" she asked calmly. "You know," he cried, terribly, wildly, in his frantic emotion. "You know I love you—you know I don't care for anything else, but just to have you!
- 30. Where'd you be now, if it wasn't for me? Tell me that! I wish to God I'd never seen you! I'll—I'll kill you with my own hands before I'll let you go now! I'll do worse—I'll..." He stopped himself suddenly, meeting the steady contempt of Mayne's eyes. There was a moment of awful silence, broken only by two dry, tearing sobs from the furious lover; then Millie, who had turned chalk-white once more, fell back among her pillows with an impatient motion of the hand. "Oh, get away; you make me sick," she said. Before Bert could speak or move, Mayne went up to him, took him by the arm, and led him out of the room. Then, handing him his hat, he drew him as passively out of the house. Neither spoke till they had walked half a mile. Mayne was half in fear that Bert, in his rage, might set upon him bodily, and congratulated himself, not for the first time in his missionary career, upon the possession of thews and sinews. But no ebullition came. Bert's face had gone grey, and he looked worn and shrunken in the strong sunlight. At last, smitten by the despair in his altered manner, the elder man ventured to speak. "Mestaer, you must come and put up at my place till Miss Lutwyche is well enough to travel. You did the best you could for her—you did well; but the strain is too great, and it must cease. I shall wire for one of the Sisters from Leitersdorp to come and help Anna to nurse her. As to you, you have to fight and win a man's hardest battle; and I'll give you a bit of advice—" "Go to h— with your advice!" "I'm not far away now, to judge by the sulphur in the atmosphere," retorted Mayne drily, and said no more.
- 31. They walked on until they came to the little Mission, and turned in to the sparsely-furnished living-room, with its crucifix and Albrecht Dürer fac-similes, and the Da Vinci Virgin on the rude mantel. Bert walked across the room, planted both elbows on the shelf, and stared with blank eyes at the ineffable smile of the pictured face. Suddenly he wheeled round. "Well, what's your blasted advice?" he said rudely. "A black-coated prig that doesn't know what it means to be..." "Tempted," suggested Mayne drily. But he pushed a chair for his discourteous guest, and got down the tobacco-jar. "No man can fight the flesh and win, if he's living in idleness," he said reflectively, standing before the hearth and filling his pipe. "But there's another consideration. Do you realise that we are on the brink of war?" "Kruger, perhaps." "Steyn, too. You heard the news the other day? All the men ordered out on commando. What does that mean? The Orange Free State is going in against England." "Well, they can fight their own blank battles without my help." "That's rubbish, Mestaer. You'll have to fight on one side or the other. Now is the time to show yourself an Englishman. England wants men. They think at home that this war is to be a walk over. You and I know better. Go and enlist. There's a career for you." "I'll be d—d if I do." "That's a condition that seems to me far more likely to supervene if you don't," was the temperate reply. Bert laid down his miserable head upon his arms. "You don't see, and I can't explain," he said haltingly, "that it's not a thing—not a question of what you call the flesh. If there's such a thing as
- 32. spirit anywhere in me, I've put it all in my love for her. If you take her away, I shall go to the devil." "If I take her away! My dear chap, you cannot seriously mean to pretend that you think Millie wants to marry you?" Sulky silence. "I know you better than to believe you would be cad enough to marry her against her will. Were you to do so, I fail to see in what respect you would be any better than Otis." No reply. Mayne stood up, searching his book-shelves for the "Divina Commedia." "Bert, did you ever hear of Dante?" "No. Nobody as lives hereabouts, is he?" Mayne did not smile. "I'll tell you something of him—how all his life he lived for the memory of a dead woman—a woman of whom he knew even less than you know of Millie, and lived in hope, and cleanly, for her sake. Now, Millie is not dead. You are but a boy, and she a girl. Five or six or seven years hence, if you make a career for yourself what is to prevent you from trying again? By that time she would at least realise the enduring nature of your love; whereas now, neither you nor I nor she could say that it will last. It is just a boy's hot flame." Bert stamped. "You don't believe me capable of it," he stormed. "You just think that if you can get her out of my way now, that'll be the end of it all. You don't think I've the manhood or the pluck to stick to the thing through years of absence—"
- 33. He broke off, staring at the kindled face of the priest, who had risen, and stood facing him. "That's just where you make your mistake, Bert," said his friend earnestly. "I do believe you capable of the best. Listen! When I came first to Slabbert's Poort, I found you a loafer. You were idle and good-for-nothing and intemperate. Now you have shown me what you are capable of. Your love for Millie has made you a different man. You have fought for her, saved her, respected her! ... I rather wish you had heard tell of one Caponsacchi; but never mind. It's better to do knightly deeds than to read about 'em. Anyhow, you have set your foot on the road to become a true gentleman; why turn back now? Hubert Mestaer"—his voice took on the deep note it sometimes had in the pulpit—"by the memory of your mother, I ask you, why turn back now?" CHAPTER X FRANSDALE "Ankle-deep in English grass I leaped, And clapped my hands, and called all very fair." —ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. It was mid-October. St. Luke's summer brooded over the solitary acres of heather, which crowned the hills that flung encradling arms about Fransdale. The golden bracken was turning brown, but the heather still carried its glory of purple. The woodlands were forsaking their devotion to pure green, and rioted in every hue of red and yellow, and the light air sang and hummed about the uplands of the glorious land. All the summer had been
- 34. fine; the becks had sunk to musical murmurings; one might walk from Tod's Trush to the Three Howes, across country, without getting bogged. In a stable-yard surrounded by grey stone out-buildings stood the Reverend Edmund Chetwynd-Cooper, harnessing his horse to the dog-cart. Near him a big, loose-limbed, clumsy girl, who had evidently outgrown her strength, stood listlessly watching him through half-shut eyes. "How old is Cousin Melicent?" she asked, in a voice which always sounded fretful. "I have told you I believe her to be about sixteen." "Nearly as old as I am. I wonder whether we shall like her?" "I hope you understood what I said at dinner-time. There is to be no intimacy until we have decided that Melicent is a fit companion for you. No intimacy, mind." His voice was even and quiet, low-pitched and cultivated. He was a handsome, dark man, with regular features, and a cold, blue eye; clean shaven but for a straight line of black whisker down each cheek, which made him look vaguely out of date. His daughter looked at him with a sidelong glance. "All right, father," she said, in a kind of formula, adding, in an injured tone: "I should have thought you might take one of us to meet her." "I do not know what luggage there may be." Mr. Cooper would not have said, "I don't know," for the world; and the fact was typical of his extreme correctness. "Where is your mother?" he asked, when the last strap was adjusted. "I promised her a lift as far as the Mill. Go, Madeline, and tell her I am ready." The girl slouched away, with a bored expression; and the parson, having fetched the dust-rug and whip, walked the mare out of the yard and up to
- 35. the door of the square, uncompromising grey stone Vicarage. Nothing could have been finer than the prospect. The church and Vicarage stood near the head of the Dale, close to the bolder, wilder, more heathery part, and looked down on the valleyland, the trout stream and rich meadows below. The minutes ticked on, while the vicar waited. Presently Madeline emerged. "Mother says she won't be long." "Will you tell her please, that I positively must start in five minutes." The girl disappeared. The five minutes elapsed; three more passed. The vicar got into the trap. Madeline once more appeared. "Mother thinks, before she starts, she had better give Bee a dose of her tonic." "Then tell her I am off without her. The train will not wait, even for your mother." He was just going out of the gate, when a window-sash was raised, and a voice cried: "Aidmund! Aidmund!" He checked the horse. "Well? Come if you are ready," he said, quite temperately, his voice showing no annoyance. "Oh, no, I can't do that; but I thought it would be so capital if you could get me one or two things in Birdmore? I shan't be very long writing them down." "You should have thought of that before." "My darling boy, think how busy I have been all this morning, preparing —"
- 36. The rest was lost, for the vicar had driven away. His cold eyes were quite gentle, but he did draw in his breath sharply once; at the thought, perhaps, of this helpmeet of his, in this remote village, where nothing ever interrupted her simple routine of duties—incapable of being ready for a drive at three o'clock in the afternoon. The old mare had to step out. Mrs. Cooper had succeeded in making her husband ten minutes late; and nine miles of very bad road lay between him and the Junction. The train which was to bring his niece was just coming to a standstill in the little wayside station, as the old mare, conscious of having been hustled, trotted into the station-yard. The vicar hastened through the booking-office, out upon the asphalte platform, whereon a small, slender girl in black stood lonely beside some solid-looking packing-cases and one modest trunk. She wore her left arm in a sling. He came slowly forward, with a resolute smile of greeting on his face. "Are you Melicent?" She raised her eyes searchingly to his face. "Yes, I am." "You are not at all like your mother," he said, scanning the pale face. "No; father did not think me like her." "You have managed your journey well?" "Oh, yes, thank you, it was all quite easy." "How did you manage last night in London?" "I went home with some people who were kind to me on the voyage; Mr. and Mrs. Helston." "I expected a taller niece," he said kindly. "I am small for my age, I know."
- 37. His anxious gaze was fixed upon the packing-cases. There were three of them, and their bulk suggested weight. "Do those cases belong to you?" he asked. "Yes; my father's books and valuables. He left them all to me, and my guardian insisted that Mrs. Lutwyche should give them up." "Well, I don't quite know how they are going to be conveyed up the Dale," he said, in perplexity. "Oh, that's all right," said Millie, with sang-froid. "Mr. Dow is going to take them in his waggon." "Mr. Dow!" ejaculated the vicar, in a tone compounded of equal parts of astonishment and displeasure. A big Cleveshire Dalesman, of the more prosperous type—handsome, well-dressed, a striking figure in his riding breeches and gaiters, now approached, lifting his cap from his fair hair, his eyes twinkling with a kind of enjoyment which he peculiarly relished. "Your niece and me has been getting acquainted," he said, in his unrenderable soft-vowelled Dale speech. "Makin' friends, as you may say." It sounded more like: "Mäakin' freänds, as you mäay säa." But the phonetic rendering of dialect is a weariness, and will not here be attempted. "Fair enjoyin' werselves we've been, ever since leavin' York Station. I'm goin' to take her goods up t' Dale for her, since I expect you've only t' old mare an't' cart with you, Mr. Cooper." Mr. Cooper could barely acknowledge the kindness, for angry mortification. He was a Southerner, planted down among people whom he disliked, because he did not in the least understand them. His idea of the peasant's correct attitude was a servile obedience to the parson, and that kind of gratitude which is rightly said to consist of a lively sense of favours to come. The sturdy independence, and I'm-as-good-as-you indifference of the North Country, was a positive offence to him, his only armour against it being a crust of ever increasing cold dignity and aloofness, which the
- 38. Dalesmen saw, and chuckled over. His wife, who had come among them, ready with the ministrations which she understood—with condescending smiles, ill-made soup, old clothes and patronage—found no market for these commodities. A premature exhibition of them had produced such a condition of feeling, that now, as she came down the road, full of amiable intentions, the village became a desert, everyone slipping within doors and disappearing, sooner than encounter her. Moreover, the Dale was full of nonconformity; and the attitude of the vicar towards dissent was that of silent, rigid dislike—of his wife, that kind of shocked horror with which some people talk of "the heathen." So the Chetwynd-Coopers dwelt as aliens in their Northern parish, attributing their failure solely to causes exterior to themselves, and resolutely setting the advantages of fine moorland air, and the low price of provisions, against the vague depression which their isolation naturally caused. But, among all the thorns in the vicar's dignified flesh, Farmer Dow, of Crow Gate Farm, the leading Dissenter in the Dale, was the sharpest. Poor Millie could not have made a more unfortunate entry upon the scenes, than under his auspices. The ice in the vicar's voice, as he declined his kindness, was obvious to the bystanders. But Dow was not to be denied. He had promised Millie that her goods should be taken up, and taken up they should be, that very night. She had taught him more about South Africa in half-an-hour than the newspapers had taught him in half a year. She was coming to tea with his mother, at Crow Gate, and going to keep him posted in the war news. He owed it to her to see after her baggage, after such entertainment. He helped her into the trap with such empressement that the onlookers were deeply moved; and the vicar's heart was hot within him as he drove away. His niece was, as he had feared, hopelessly Colonial. But it was not the vicar's habit to speak in anger. Experience had given him a power of self-control which would have kindled the admiration of his parishioners, had they guessed what manner of man lay hidden under the dry, precise manner.
- 39. He waited until he had himself well in hand, and then commenced conversation—not upon the burning topic. "I am sorry to see that you have hurt your arm." Millie, whose eyes were fixed in deep, increasing interest on the country they were passing through, looked up. "It was the old woman," she said. "I thought Mr. Mayne might have told you. She sjambokked me pretty nearly to death, and threw me down and dislocated my arm." The clear, soft voice, evenly cadenced, giving out this astonishing information, raised fresh tumult in the vicar's bosom. "Do you mean your step-mother?" he asked, in horror. "Yes. Mr. Mayne had to go to Leitersdorp to get the will proved. He was away three days, and she made up her mind to take it out on me." "To take what out?" "She was mad because father made him my guardian. She wanted to sell me to a Yankee; he'd given her ten pounds on account. So Mr. Mayne told her it was a case of hands off, because it was his show. So she got the children to catch and hold me, and they managed to tie me up; and she just went on until she was tired," said Millie unemotionally. The vicar had no words. Uppermost in his mind was deep, abiding thankfulness that he had brought none of his daughters with him to meet this astounding young person. What would his wife say to this? Such people, they knew, existed in the pages of those sensational novels which cannot be too severely condemned by the well-regulated; but that his own sister's child should have been strung up and thrashed! ... The current of hot sympathy in him must have found vent in indignant words; but it was invaded by another thought. The carefully guarded propriety of his own children must suffer no contact with naked facts of life like this; and such was the feeling that spoke first.
- 40. "I must ask you not to mention this. I should say, I must order you not to tell your cousins, or Miss Lathom, their governess, how you came by your injuries. To your aunt, in private, it may be alluded to, but I cannot have so scandalous a thing generally known." Millie looked up swiftly. "I can keep a thing dark, if I am given the tip," she said, with amusement that sounded a little contemptuous. He was conscious of great annoyance. "I give no tips. I merely say that this must not be mentioned," he said frigidly. "We will refer to it later. And now to touch upon another matter. In England the—ah—fusion of classes to which you have probably been accustomed is not desirable. The vicar's niece cannot, with propriety, be on terms of equality with a farmer like Dow." "Oh," said Millie, "why not?" "We are socially Mr. Dow's superiors, and we must not let him forget his place, as these Dalesmen are most apt to do." "I should have thought," said Millie reflectively, "that they would never be likely to forget their place, so long as we were sure of ours." The vicar again felt uncomfortable. His wife and he were well-born— people of just enough consequence to be eager that nobody should forget it; undeniably belonging to the county set, but much ignored by that set, as being poor and desperately dull. "You see, at home we shouldn't have been socially superior to Mr. Dow," said Millie. "You have much to learn here," returned her uncle; and as he spoke, he was inly deciding that the girl was impossible.
- 41. CHAPTER XI MELICENT'S COUSINS "Girls' heads are not like jam-pots, which, if you do not fill them will remain empty; a filling there will be, of some kind."—JULIANA HORATIA EWING. They had been crawling for some time slowly up a steep lane with hedges; now suddenly they emerged at the top, and a long sigh of wonder escaped Millie as she saw the moorland spread before her in all its untamed splendour. Great headlands, facing northwards, jutted forth into the heather, as into a purple sea; and on the brink of one of these the travellers found themselves, overlooking a vast stretch of wild country. The descent down which they must go was almost a precipice. Something in the keen racing air, the height, the freedom, the glory of it all, took Melicent by the throat England was like this—like this! Sunlight, colour, the adorable odour of peat and bracken, drawn out by the sun, the blue mysteries of distance ... it came about her like compelling arms. Solitude, silence, spacious calm— here were elements that appealed to the depth of her being. Reserved as she was, she had nearly cried aloud to her unknown uncle for sympathy in her sudden rush of feeling for the land of her forefathers. He had checked the mare to a walk, and was coaxing her downhill with caution and skill. "Our roads are not much to boast of hereabouts," he said at last, as the cart slewed itself over a lump in the road, designed to prevent heavy rainfall from washing out the roadway on the violent slope. "But I daresay you are not much better off in Africa." "Not much to boast of! They are glorious!" breathed Millie, insensible of jolting in her admiration. "We have nothing like this in Africa!" "A few miles further on, I can show you a road, compared with which, this might be a billiard-table," he said cheerfully.
- 42. Millie became aware that he referred to surface and gradients, and not to landscape. "Oh, I see," she replied lamely. "I was thinking of—of the heather." "You will see plenty of that," was the composed answer. "It begins to grow all over the road, at no great distance from here." Conversation did not seem easy. Millie was at no time talkative, and they fell silent, and so remained while they traversed several miles of open moor, crossed a desolate ridge, and presently found themselves dipping again into a lane with hedges, in all their autumn glory of ripe blackberries, fluffy travellers' joy, coral honeysuckle berries and wayfaring tree. "Now we are in Fransdale," said Mr. Cooper. They were labouring along, in narrow, sandy, toilsome windings, when the hoot of a motor, up somewhere over their heads, made Mr. Cooper start. He was leading the mare, and proceeded to drag her as far as he possibly could to the side of the lane—half-way up the hedge, in fact. The next moment the car came in sight, tearing downhill at a speed which was evidently calculated upon the certainty of clear roads. It began to bray loudly, as though, in response to the warning, the vicar could cause his dog- cart to vanish into thin air. Millie surveyed it with interest, and as it whizzed by, within an inch of their off-wheel, she caught sight of a young, handsome, bored face, and that of an older man beside it. They raised their hats as they swept by, having most narrowly missed smashing the cart to fragments: but the vicar seemed quite pleased, and not at all annoyed. "Sir Joseph Burmester and his son—our big land-owners hereabouts," he explained. "Oh!" said his niece; adding, after reflection: "Are they our social equals?" For some reason, the question annoyed the vicar; he relapsed into silence.
- 43. Mrs. Cooper prided herself upon keeping all her Southern customs up here in the North. When Melicent came downstairs to tea, she saw none of that wonderful pastry without which no Cleveshire tea-table is complete. Her five girl-cousins and their governess were assembled to be introduced to their new relative. They stared at her with a passive and stony indifference. Madeline was seventeen, Gwendolen sixteen, Theodora fifteen, Barbara fourteen, and Beatrice twelve. Even Beatrice was quite as tall as Melicent; and the elder girls were vast, the two eldest nearing five- foot-ten, after the fashion of the modern girl, and not in the least as yet knowing how to manage their swelling proportions. In their outgrown, scanty frocks, and big, thick legs, they looked rather like men in a farce, dressed up to represent little girls. Two or three of them were handsome, but they all struck Millie as singularly expressionless. Their faces were like masks. Mrs. Chetwynd-Cooper's hair was pale flaxen, and being brushed away very tightly from the face, gave the impression of her having no hair at all. The odd look of being out of date, achieved in her husband's case by side- whiskers, was bestowed upon her by long earrings. The couple looked like the Papa and Mamma of a virtuous family, in a very early Victorian story- book. Mrs. Cooper sat down to table with a determined cheerfulness which Melicent soon learned was her characteristic. It somehow succeeded in producing deep depression in others. At least, nobody spoke; and the girl found herself with her attention fixed, with a fatal fascination, upon her aunt's smile and her aunt's earrings, and longing for something to divert her eye. Her uncle's depression was a very real and well-defined thing that evening. There was something about his new niece which he found himself disliking with quite unchristian vehemence. He had confided to his wife that extreme care would be necessary, and that the new-comer must by no means be let loose among their own children. Mrs. Cooper could not share his depression. She had the boundless self-confidence of an entirely stupid woman. She had made her own girls models of all that girls should be. No slang was ever heard in the Vicarage; no loud voices; no unruly expression
- 44. of opinion. Why should she not be equally successful with this raw material, doubtless sent by Providence to her good guidance? Melicent sat watching her five munching cousins, and thought they were something like cows. Their eyes were vacant, their appetites steady. She was just wondering whether all talking at meals was forbidden, when Gwendolen, who sat next her, tossed back her long hair, and asked: "How did you hurt your arm?" Melicent's voice was soft, but singularly clear. It had a carrying quality. "Uncle Edmund says I am not to tell you," she replied. Mr. Cooper was all the more angry, because he felt sure that his niece could and would have skated ably over this thin ice had he not repudiated all wish to "keep things dark." She had done exactly what he told her to do, and he wanted to box her ears. "Give us news of your Cochin China hen, Gwendolen," he broke in. "Has she been laying away again?" "Yes, in the hedge," said his daughter, giving her reply in lifeless tone and fewest words; and silence fell again. "Oh, by the way, I have a pleasant surprise for Melicent," said Mrs. Cooper suddenly, her countenance wreathed in smiles. She always spoke as though coaxing a very young child, who needed encouragement and reassurance; and her niece resented it as actively as did the villagers. "What do you think arrived for you this morning, Melicent? Theo, darling, if you look on mother's desk, you will find a letter for Cousin Melicent. I suppose the mail travels faster than the boat you came in, Melicent." Theo brought a letter and handed it to her cousin, who took it with composure. "I wonder whom that comes from?" said Mrs. Cooper archly. "It's from Hubert Mestaer."
- 45. "And who is that?" pursued the lady, delighted that everybody's attention was so skilfully diverted from the broken arm. "He is one of the men who wanted to marry me," said Millie clearly. In the deadly pause that followed, she caught a glance, hastily passing under lowered lids, between Miss Lathom and her two elder pupils. But the valiant Mrs. Cooper was equal even to this occasion. "When dear Melicent has been with us a little longer, she will know that we do not talk of such things," she cooed, blushing as coyly as the heroine in a novel by Charles Reade. The blush was not to be seen reflected on the stolid countenances of her daughters. They chewed on. "What things?" asked Millie, bewildered. "Our offers of—marriage," said her aunt, bringing out the bold word with a gulp. "You are a little young, darling, to be thinking of marriage for a great many years, are you not?" "Yes; that is what I told them," replied Millie simply, fixing surprised eyes upon the lady's embarrassment. The vicar cleared his throat. "Perhaps you had better give that letter to your aunt, Melicent, and let her judge whether it is a fit one for you to receive." Melicent removed her look of surprise from one end of the table to another. "I think it would be playing it very low down on Bert to let anybody see his letter," she said, with decision. "My girls show me all their letters," said her aunt, still smiling and coaxing.
- 46. "I beg your pardon if it sounds rude," replied her niece, "but I shall not show you mine." The vicar rose from table with decision. "We will discuss this at another time," he said. "Melicent will, of course, conform to the rules of the house while she is with us. For what we have received, etc. A word, Miss Lathom, please." Then, as the girls filed past, he said low in the governess's ear: "On no account is she to be left alone with her cousins for a moment." The girls filed soberly out, led the way upstairs, through a swing-door, along a passage, into a shabby old room with deep window-seats, an aged rocking-horse, shelves of story books and disabled toys, an ink-stained, battered table, a high fire-guard, and all the usual accessories of the nursery turned schoolroom. They fastened the swing-door behind them as they went through, carefully closing the door of the school-room also; and then all, as it were, exhaling a gasp of relief, turned to their cousin again with transfigured faces. "Now we can talk! Now we can be ourselves! Now we can have some fun!" they cried, surrounding her. The masks were dropped, the real girls appeared, tossing back their hair, stretching their limbs, assuming every possible attitude of comfort and inelegance. They all talked at once, crowding round; and the transition was so abrupt and so complete as to bewilder her. "One moment," said Gwendolen, who was the handsomest, and seemed to take the lead, rather than the petulant and anæmic-looking Madeline. "Be cautious, girls! we may very likely be raided this evening; she's sure to poke her nose in after Melicent. Put out the things. Did you hoist the weight, Babs?" "Yes, I did," said Barbara.
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