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Chapter 7 – Development Strategies
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Although the traditional model of software acquisition still accounts for more software acquisition, a
new model, called ____, is changing the picture dramatically.
a. Hardware as a Help c. Processing as a Product
b. Software as a Service d. Storage as a Solution
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 286
2. Microsoft’s ____ is one of the major Web-based development environments.
a. WebSphere c. NetSphere
b. .NET d. .WEB
3. Building an application in a ____ environment can offer greater benefits, and sometimes greater risks,
compared to a traditional environment.
a. GUI c. cloud
b. Web-based d. multinational
4. Web-based software usually requires additional layers, called ____, to communicate with existing
software and legacy systems.
a. freeware c. middleware
b. shareware d. public domain software
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 289
5. Some industry leaders predict that ____ computing will offer an overall online software and data
environment supported by supercomputer technology.
a. interpolated c. outsourced
b. mainframe d. cloud
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 289
6. ____ is the transfer of information systems development, operation, or maintenance to an outside firm
that provides these services, for a fee, on a temporary or long-term basis.
a. Outsourcing c. Subscription
b. Commission d. External provision
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 290
7. A firm that offers outsourcing solutions is called a ____ provider.
a. subscription c. service
b. software d. resource
8. A(n) ____ is a firm that delivers a software application, or access to an application, by charging a
usage or subscription fee.
a. ASP c. ISP
b. OSP d. USP

9. Some firms offer ____, which provide powerful Web-based support for transactions such as order
processing, billing, and customer relationship management.
a. ASP c. fixed usage
b. IBS d. fixed-fee transfer
10. Oracle Corporation offers a service called ____, which provides e-business applications on a fixed fee
basis.
a. WebSphere c. Business Process Outsourcing
b. .NET d. Oracle On Demand
11. When determining outsourcing fees, a ____ uses a set fee based on a specified level of service and user
support.
a. fixed fee model c. subscription model
b. usage model d. transaction model
12. When determining outsourcing fees, a ____ has a variable fee based on the number of users or
workstations that have access to the application.
a. fixed fee model c. subscription model
b. usage model d. transaction model
13. A(n) ____ model is an outsourcing fee model that charges a variable fee based on the volume of
transactions or operations performed by the application.
a. method c. transaction
b. administrative d. interpolated
14. The choice between developing versus purchasing software often is called a ____ decision.
a. build or make c. transactional
b. subscription d. build or buy
15. The software that a company’s IT department makes, builds, and develops is called ____ software.
a. in-house c. external
b. internal d. indexed
16. A software ____ is software that is obtained from a vendor or application service provider.
a. package c. subscription
b. cluster d. aggregate
17. Companies that develop software for sale are called software ____.

a. VARs c. vendors
b. resellers d. packages
18. A firm that enhances a commercial software package by adding custom features and configuring it for
a particular industry is called a(n) ____.
a. BRE c. OSP
b. IRH d. VAR
19. Typically, companies choose in-house software development for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
to ____.
a. minimize changes in business procedures and policies
b. meet constraints of existing systems and existing technology
c. develop internal resources and capabilities
d. obtain input from other companies who already have implemented the software
20. Advantages of purchasing a software package over developing software in-house include all of the
following EXCEPT ____.
a. satisfaction of unique business requirements
b. lower costs and less time to implement
c. proven reliability and performance benchmarks
d. less technical development staff
21. Buyers can customize a software package by ____.
a. negotiating directly with the software vendor to make enhancements to meet the buyer’s
needs by paying for the changes
b. purchasing a basic package that vendors will customize to suit the buyer’s needs
c. purchasing the software and making their own modifications, if this is permissible under
the terms of the software license
d. all of the above
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 296-297
22. A user ____ utilizes standard business software, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, which
has been configured in a specific manner to enhance user productivity.
a. application c. interface
b. configuration d. interpolation
23. In addition to configuring software, an IT staff can create a user ____, which includes screens,
commands, controls, and features that enable users to interact more effectively with the application.
a. montage c. interface
b. index d. package
24. Some data files should be totally hidden from view, while others should have ____ so users can view,
but not change, the data.

a. no-access properties c. full-access properties
b. read-only properties d. write-only properties
25. A ____ is a document that describes a company, lists the IT services or products needed, and specifies
the features required.
a. request for quotation (RFQ) c. request for proposal (RFP)
b. net present value (NPV) d. return on investment (ROI)
26. When companies use a ____, they already know the specific products or service they want and need to
obtain price quotations or bids from vendors.
a. request for quotation (RFQ) c. request for proposal (RFP)
b. net present value (NPV) d. return on investment (ROI)
27. A ____ measures the time a package takes to process a certain number of transactions.
a. newsgroup c. benchmark
b. parameter d. default
28. When planning a slide presentation to management at the end of the systems analysis phase, systems
analysts should keep all of the following suggestions in mind EXCEPT ____.
a. summarize the primary viable alternatives
b. ignore time for discussion and questions and answers
c. explain why the evaluation and selection team chose the recommended alternative
d. obtain a final decision or agree on a timetable for the next step in the process
29. The physical design is developed during the ____ phase of the SDLC.
a. systems design c. systems operation and support
b. systems analysis d. systems planning
30. A ____ is a value that the user enters whenever a query is run, which provides flexibility, enables users
to access information easily, and costs less.
31. A ____ is a value that a system displays automatically.
32. Reports that trace the entry of and changes to critical data values are called ____ and are essential in
every system.
a. audit trails c. backtracks

b. protective pathways d. value tracks
33. Guidelines to follow when determining data entry and storage considerations include all of the
following EXCEPT ____.
a. data should be entered into the system where and when it occurs
b. data should be verified when it is entered
c. data duplication should be encouraged
d. data should be entered into a system only once
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 313-314
34. System ____ produces a full-featured, working model of an information system.
a. prototyping c. coding
b. outsourcing d. benchmarking
35. In an approach called ____ prototyping, systems analysts use prototyping to verify user requirements,
after which the prototype is discarded and implementation continues.
a. discard c. trash
b. design d. recycled
36. ____, like that illustrated in the accompanying figure, produces an early, rapidly constructed working
version of a proposed system.
a. Prototyping c. Coding
b. Outsourcing d. Benchmarking
37. Prototyping, like that illustrated in the accompanying figure, includes all of the following benefits
EXCEPT ____.
a. users and systems developers can avoid misunderstandings
b. managers can evaluate a working model more effectively than a paper specification
c. system requirements, such as reliability and maintainability, can be rated adequately
d. systems analysts can develop testing and training procedures before the finished solution
is available
38. In a ____, the commands tend to resemble natural statements that people use.
a. 2GL c. 4GL
b. 3GL d. 5GL
39. In combination, the powerful tools that systems analysts use to provide a framework for rapid, efficient
software development, is called a ____ environment.
a. second-generation c. fourth-generation
b. third-generation d. fifth-generation

40. Potential problems of prototyping include all of the following EXCEPT ____.
a. the rapid pace of development can create quality problems
b. some system requirements, such as reliability and maintainability, cannot be tested
adequately
c. prototypes become unwieldy and difficult to manage in very complex systems
d. prototyping increases the risk and potential financial exposure that occur when a finished
system fails to support business needs
MULTIPLE RESPONSE
Modified Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is true of a traditional systems development environment?
a. systems design is influenced by compatibility issues
b. systems are designed to run on local and wide-area company networks
c. systems often utilize Internet links and resources
d. scalability is not affected by telecommunications limitations and local networks
ANS: A, B, C PTS: 1 REF: 287-288
2. Which of the following is a path that development can follow?
a. in-house development
b. construct a legacy system
c. purchase of a software package with possible modification
d. use of outside consultants
ANS: A, C, D PTS: 1 REF: 287
3. Which of the following is true of Web-based development?
a. Web-based systems are easily scalable.
b. Large firms tend to deploy Web-based systems as enterprise-wide software solutions for
applications such as customer relationship management and order processing.
c. Internet-based development treats the Web as a communication channel, rather than as the
platform.
d. Systems are developed and delivered in an Internet-based framework.
ANS: A, B, D PTS: 1 REF: 289
4. Which of the following is true of Web-based development?
a. Web-based software treats the software as a service that is more dependent on desktop
computing powers and resources.
b. Web-based software usually requires middleware to communicate with existing software
and legacy systems.
c. Web-based systems can run on multiple hardware environments.
d. When companies acquire Web-based software as a service rather than a product they
purchase, they can limit in-house involvement to a minimum.
ANS: B, C, D PTS: 1 REF: 289
5. Outsourcing can refer to ____.

a. relatively minor programming tasks
b. the rental of software from a service provider
c. the handling of a company’s entire IT function
d. BPO
ANS: A, B, C, D PTS: 1 REF: 290
MODIFIED TRUE/FALSE
1. An ASP provides more than a license to use the software; it rents an operational package to the
customer. _________________________
ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: 291
2. A software package that can be used by many different types of organizations is called a vertical
application. _________________________
ANS: F, horizontal
PTS: 1 REF: 293
3. A software package developed to handle information requirements for a specific type of business is
called a horizontal application. _________________________
ANS: F, vertical
PTS: 1 REF: 294
4. Net present value is a percentage rate that compares the total net benefits (the return) received from a
project to the total costs (the investment) of the project. _________________________
ANS: F
Return on investment
ROI
PTS: 1 REF: 299
5. The ROI of a project is the total value of the benefits minus the total value of the costs, with both costs
and benefits adjusted to reflect the point at which they occur. _________________________
ANS: F
net present value
NPV
PTS: 1 REF: 299
TRUE/FALSE
1. Typically, customers purchase licenses that give them the right to use the software under the terms of
the license agreement.

2. Building an application in a Web-based environment might involve greater risks and benefits,
compared to a traditional environment.
3. In a traditional systems development environment, security issues usually are less complex than with
Web-based systems, because the system operates on a private telecommunications network, rather than
the Internet.
4. Mission-critical IT systems should be outsourced only if the result is a cost-attractive, reliable,
business solution that fits the company’s long-term business strategy.
5. A subscription model charges a variable fee based on the volume of transactions or operations
performed by the application.
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: 291
6. A company considering outsourcing must realize that the solution can be only as good as the
outsourcing firm that provides the service.
7. Mergers and acquisitions typically have no impact on clients and customers of large, financially
healthy firms.
8. The main reason for offshore outsourcing is the same as domestic outsourcing: lower bottom-line
costs.
9. By designing a system in-house, companies can develop and train an IT staff that understands the
organization’s business functions and information support needs.
10. Compared to software developed in-house, a software package almost always is more expensive,
particularly in terms of initial investment.
11. Many firms feel that in-house IT resources and capabilities provide a competitive advantage because
an in-house team can respond quickly when business problems or opportunities arise.
12. Companies that use commercial software packages always must increase the number of programmers
and systems analysts on the IT staff.

13. Software vendors regularly upgrade software packages by adding improvements and enhancements to
create a new version or release.
14. Empowerment makes an IT department less productive because it must spend more time responding to
the daily concerns of users and less time on high-impact systems development projects that support
strategic business goals.
15. The decision to develop software in-house will require less participation from the systems analyst than
outsourcing or choosing a commercial package.
16. The primary objective of an evaluation and selection team is to eliminate system alternatives that will
not work, rank the system alternatives that will work, and present the viable alternatives to
management for a final decision.
17. A request for quotation (RFQ) is less specific than an RFP (request for proposal).
18. For desktop applications, software license terms and conditions usually can be modified.
19. If management decides to develop a system in-house, then the transition to the systems design phase
ends.
20. Whereas the logical design of an information system is concerned with how the system will meet
requirements, physical design is concerned with what the system must accomplish.
21. A system is reliable if it adequately handles errors, such as input errors, processing errors, hardware
failures, or human mistakes.
22. A system is maintainable if it is well designed, flexible, and developed with future modifications in
mind.
23. In an inventory database, vendor addresses should be stored with every part record.

24. Perhaps the most intense form of prototyping occurs when RAD methods are used.
25. One disadvantage of prototyping is that the rapid pace of development can create quality problems,
which are not discovered until the finished system is operational.
COMPLETION
1. In most large and medium-sized companies, a(n) ____________________ within the IT department is
responsible for providing user support.
ANS:
help desk
information center
IC
PTS: 1 REF: 297
2. Some user applications have powerful ____________________ that allow users to design their own
data entry forms and reports.
ANS:
report generators
screen generators
PTS: 1 REF: 297
3. When selecting hardware and software, systems analysts often work as a(n) ____________________,
which ensures that critical factors are not overlooked and a sound decision is made.
ANS: evaluation and selection team
PTS: 1 REF: 299
4. ____________________ determines how long it takes an information system to pay for itself through
reduced costs and increased benefits.
ANS: Payback analysis
PTS: 1 REF: 299
5. A(n) ____________________ is a technique that uses a common yardstick to measure and compare
vendor ratings.
ANS: evaluation model
PTS: 1 REF: 303

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6. When identifying potential vendors or outsourcing options, a valuable resource is the Internet bulletin
board system that contains thousands of forums, called ____________________, like the one shown in
the accompanying figure, which cover every imaginable topic.
ANS: newsgroups
PTS: 1 REF: 305
7. When users purchase software, what they are buying is a(n) ____________________ that gives them
the right to use the software under certain terms and conditions.
ANS: software license
PTS: 1 REF: 307
8. If users purchase a software package, they should consider a(n) ____________________, which
allows them to contact the vendor for assistance when they have problems or questions.
ANS: maintenance agreement
PTS: 1 REF: 307

9. The ____________________ contains the requirements for a new system, describes the alternatives
that were considered, and makes a specific recommendation to management.
ANS:
system requirements document
software requirements specification
PTS: 1 REF: 309
10. The goal of ____________________ is to build a system that is effective, reliable, and maintainable.
ANS: systems design
PTS: 1 REF: 312
11. Many people recall the concern called the ____________________ issue, when some older programs
that used only two characters to store the year might not adjust properly to the new century.
ANS: Y2K
PTS: 1 REF: 312
12. Independent ____________________ provide greater flexibility because they can be developed and
tested individually, and then combined or reused later in the development process.
ANS: modules
PTS: 1 REF: 314
13. ____________________ methods build a system by creating a series of prototypes and then constantly
adjusting them to user requirements.
ANS: Agile
PTS: 1 REF: 315
14. Prototyping produces an early, rapidly constructed working version of a proposed information system,
called a(n) ____________________.
ANS: prototype
PTS: 1 REF: 315
15. Design prototyping is also known as ____________________ prototyping.
ANS: throwaway
PTS: 1 REF: 315
16. A(n) ____________________ might lack security requirements, exception and error-handling
procedures, and other required functions.
ANS: prototype

PTS: 1 REF: 317
17. Most ____________________ are based on a combination of HTML and XML.
ANS: Web services
PTS: 1 REF: 318
18. ____________________ is an architectural style whose goal is to achieve loose coupling among
interacting software objects that can provide services.
ANS:
Service-oriented architecture
SOA
PTS: 1 REF: 318
19. ____________________ means that the objects can interact, but are essentially independent.
ANS: Loose coupling
PTS: 1 REF: 318
20. ____________________ are modular applications such as currency converters or language translators.
ANS: Web services
PTS: 1 REF: 318
MATCHING
Identify the letter of the choice that best matches the phrase or definition.
a. cloud computing f. physical design
b. IBS g. logical design
c. managed hosting h. Web 2.0
d. WebSphere i. benchmarking
e. parameter j. systems requirement document
1. Predicted by industry leaders to offer an overall online software and data environment supported by
supercomputer technology.
2. Describes a second generation of the Web that will enable people to collaborate much more
dynamically.
3. An example of a Web-based development environment.
4. Attractive to customers because it offers online data center support, mainframe computing power for
mission-critical functions, and universal access via the Internet.
5. Another name for IBS.
6. A good way to measure relative performance of two or more competing products in a standard
environment.
7. Like a contract that identifies what the system developers must deliver to users.
8. A value that a user enters whenever a query is run.
9. With an information system, a plan for the actual implementation of the system.
10. With an information system, design that does not address the actual methods of implementation.

1. ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 289
2. ANS: H PTS: 1 REF: 289
3. ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 287
4. ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 291
5. ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 291
6. ANS: I PTS: 1 REF: 306
7. ANS: J PTS: 1 REF: 309
8. ANS: E PTS: 1 REF: 312
9. ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: 311
10. ANS: G PTS: 1 REF: 311
ESSAY
1. Discuss at length the concerns and issues related to outsourcing.
ANS:
When a company decides to outsource IT functions, it takes an important step that can affect the firm’s
resources, operations, and profitability. Mission-critical IT systems should be outsourced only if the
result is a cost-attractive, reliable, business solution that fits the company’s long-term business strategy
and involves an acceptable level of risk. Moving IT work overseas raises even more issues, including
potential concerns about control, culture, communication, and security.
In addition to long-term strategic consequences, outsourcing also can raise some concerns. For
example, a company must turn over sensitive data to an external service provider and trust the provider
to maintain security, confidentiality, and quality. Also, before outsourcing, a company must carefully
review issues relating to insurance, potential liability, licensing and information ownership, warranties,
and disaster recovery.
Most important, a company considering outsourcing must realize that the solution can be only as good
as the outsourcing firm that provides the service. A dynamic economy can give rise to business failures
and uncertainty about the future. In this climate, it is especially important to review the history and
financial condition of an outsourcing firm before making a commitment.
Mergers and acquisitions also can affect outsourcing clients. For example, after their merger, Compaq
and Hewlett-Packard restructured and streamlined the products and services offered by the new
company. Even with large, financially healthy firms such as these, a merger or acquisition can have
some impact on clients and customers. If stability is important, an outsourcing client should consider
these issues.
Outsourcing can be especially attractive to a company whose volume fluctuates widely, such as a
defense contractor. In other situations, a company might decide to outsource application development
tasks to an IT consulting firm if the company lacks the time or expertise to handle the work on its own.
Outsourcing relieves a company of the responsibility of adding IT staff in busy times and downsizing
when the workload lightens. A major disadvantage of outsourcing is that it raises employee concerns
about job security. Talented IT people usually prefer positions where the firm is committed to in-house
IT development — if they do not feel secure, they might decide to work directly for the service
provider.
PTS: 1 REF: 291-292 TOP: Critical Thinking
2. What are the advantages of purchasing a software package?

ANS:
If a company decides not to outsource, a commercially available software package might be an
attractive alternative to developing its own software. Advantages of purchasing a software package
over developing software in-house include lower costs, less time to implement a system, proven
reliability and performance benchmarks, less technical development staff, future upgrades that are
provided by the vendor, and the ability to obtain input from other companies who already have
implemented the software.
LOWER COSTS Because many companies use software packages, software vendors spread the
development costs over many customers. Compared with software developed in-house, a software
package almost always is less expensive, particularly in terms of initial investment.
REQUIRES LESS TIME TO IMPLEMENT When you purchase a package, it already has been
designed, programmed, tested, and documented. The in-house time normally spent on those tasks,
therefore, is eliminated. Of course, you still must install the software and integrate it into your systems
environment, which can take a significant amount of time.
PROVEN RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS If the package has been on the
market for any length of time, any major problems probably have been detected already and corrected
by the vendor. If the product is popular, it almost certainly has been rated and evaluated by
independent reviewers.
REQUIRES LESS TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT STAFF Companies that use commercial software
packages often are able to reduce the number of programmers and systems analysts on the IT staff.
Using commercial software also means that the IT staff can concentrate on systems whose
requirements cannot be satisfied by software packages.
FUTURE UPGRADES PROVIDED BY THE VENDOR Software vendors regularly upgrade software
packages by adding improvements and enhancements to create a new version or release. A new release
of a software package, for example, can include drivers to support a new laser printer or a new type of
data storage technology. In many cases, the vendor receives input and suggestions from current users
when planning future upgrades.
INPUT FROM OTHER COMPANIES Using a commercial software package means that you can
contact users in other companies to obtain their input and impressions. You might be able to try the
package or make a site visit to observe the system in operation before making a final decision.
PTS: 1 REF: 295-296 TOP: Critical Thinking
3. Contrast logical and physical design.
ANS:
A logical design defines what must take place, not how it will be accomplished. Logical designs do not
address the actual methods of implementation. In contrast, a physical design is like a set of blueprints
for the actual construction of a building. Typically, a physical design describes the actual processes of
entering, verifying, and storing data; the physical layout of data files and sorting procedures, the
format of reports, and so on. Because logical and physical designs are related so closely, good systems
design is impossible without careful, accurate systems analysis. For example, you might return to
fact-finding if you discover that you overlooked an important issue, if users have significant new
needs, or if legal or governmental requirements change.
PTS: 1 REF: 311 TOP: Critical Thinking

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Mothers carried their babies till they collapsed from exhaustion,
strong youths fell, utterly spent, by the path-side. Some of the
weaklings were butchered as they lay, the rest were left to die of
famine, or perchance to be enslaved again if haply some Good
Samaritan found them and nursed them back to strength.
Besides these actual evidences of present cruelty, the path itself
bore witness to savageries in the past. Leading, like all native paths,
up hill and down dale, crossing rocky uplands or traversing dense
forests, it had been trodden with no attempt to find the easiest way,
sometimes winding like a snake where a straight course would have
saved miles, sometimes making a straight line up a precipitous
ascent where a circular route would have been more expeditious. If
a tree had fallen across it the obstruction was not removed, but a
new path was trodden round it, joining the original path again at a
point beyond. At more than one spot Tom saw a skeleton across the
track, and there the path made a little divergence of two or three
yards, returning to its course at the same distance on the other side.
In answer to Tom's question the hakim told him that if a man died
on the road he was never buried, but left to the beasts of the field
and the fowl of the air. The loop formed by the path about the body
remained for ever, though the obstacle in course of time
disappeared. Several of the grisly skeletons there encountered had
the iron rings still about their necks; and with each, fuel was added
to Tom's wrath, and strength to his resolve.
Towards noon, on the second day after leaving the slave-village,
Tom, marching among his guards, felt more than usually dejected in
spirit. He held his head high, and preserved an undaunted mien
before the Arabs, but in reality he was beginning to despair of ever

beholding England and his friends again. For one thing, he was
physically out of sorts; the villages in which the long caravan
encamped at night were not models of cleanliness, and he was
sometimes too sick to swallow the unsavoury foods provided for him.
Moreover, he had been terribly plagued with the jiggers, the scourge
of African travel,--insects which pierced the skin and laid their eggs
beneath it, these in their turn becoming worms that caused
intolerable pain and irritation.
Towards noon, then, when he was feeling particularly unhappy,
he observed signs of commotion in the column ahead. The chief,
posted upon an ant-hill, was looking eagerly into the distance at a
group of men whom he had descried upon the sky-line a mile away.
He ordered the caravan to halt, and, suspecting from the smallness
of the group that it might be the advance scouts of another force led
by Europeans, he despatched fifty of his men to reconnoitre. They
divided into two equal bands, and went off through the bush on
either side of the path so as to surround the little party, and, if it
proved hostile, to cut off its retreat.
Mustapha, in the meantime, collected the best of his fighting-
men around him, and waited intently for his scouts to reach the
strangers, who had halted upon an eminence and seemed to be
hesitating whether to advance or to retire. But after a short period of
indecision the group moved slowly towards the halted caravan. It
proved, as it came more distinctly into view, to consist of ten men,
all fully armed. They were soon met by the Arab scouts, with whom
they exchanged, not shots, but friendly greetings, and who turned
and escorted them towards the caravan. As they approached,
something in the bearing of the leader seemed familiar to Tom, and

it was with a thrill almost of dismay that he recognized him, a
hundred yards away, as indubitably his old enemy, De Castro.
It was a different De Castro, however, from the brisk and alert
pursuer whose clutches he had so narrowly escaped. The
Portuguese was haggard and worn; his self-confidence had
vanished; his clothes were in tatters; even his green coat was sober
and subdued, for constant exposure to the sun had bleached it to a
dirty gray. His hunt for the Arab had evidently been particularly
arduous, and there was no eagerness in his tone as he greeted his
friend Mustapha.
Tom had been watching the chief, and wondering at the
ominous scowl that darkened his face, growing ever blacker as the
Portuguese drew nearer. To De Castro's greeting the Arab replied
with a curse; then turning, he gave a sharp word of command.
Twenty of his men sprang forward, and the wayworn new-comers
were disarmed in a twinkling, standing helpless with dull
amazement. A change instantly came over the attitude of the
surrounding Arabs, the ready smile of welcome gave place to a dark
scowl, and many a forefinger moved suggestively to the trigger. The
Portuguese, after the first shock of surprise, gave vent to a torrent
of indignant remonstrance, to which the chief turned a deaf ear;
whereupon De Castro, with a shrug that seemed to say: "He's in one
of his tempers", held his peace, and accepted the situation with
stoical indifference.
Tom, in the meantime, had watched the scene with curious
eyes, careful to keep out of the man's sight. "Strange," he thought,
"that both of us, after our former tussle, should be prisoners in the
same hands!" When the march was resumed, the Portuguese was

sent forward under surveillance to the head of the column, Tom
being nearer the centre, puzzled beyond measure at the incivility
with which the chief had received one supposed to be bound to him
by special ties.
Camp was pitched that night at the verge of the forest, in a
deserted and half-ruined village, the stockade of which was broken
down at many points of its circumference. Tom, in charge of the
hakim, was located in a hut near the centre of the village, some
distance from that appropriated by the chief. The chief's hut was the
principal habitation, but it was little less ruinous than the rest. The
thatch was broken in places, and there were two apertures in the
walls wide enough to admit a full-grown man. It was overshadowed
by a large and bushy tree, one of whose branches, springing from
the trunk some fourteen feet from the ground, and bending down
under its weight of foliage, overhung the roof, actually grazing it as
the freshening breeze swayed the bough.
Tom, reclining on the grass before the hakim's hut, to eat his
evening meal in the cool air before turning in, saw the Portuguese
led under guard into the presence of the chief. In a few moments
the sun went down, but Tom still sat, wondering what was going on
at the interview. Once he thought he heard the sound of angry
voices raised in altercation, but in the absence of the moon he saw
nothing more, and by and by re-entered the hut, and sought the
rough blanket that formed his only bed. At first he could not sleep
for thinking over the, to him, unexpected arrival of the Portuguese.
"It bodes no good to me," he thought. "Things are bad enough, but
may easily be made worse. That villain will tell how I treated him;
how he saw me afterwards with his runaway boy on the track of the

expedition; that it must have been through our information the
ambush came to grief. Heavens! what's to be the end of it all?" More
than once during the march he had had thoughts of attempting to
escape, but he had barely recovered his full vigour, and not the
shadow of an opportunity had as yet presented itself. He pondered
and pondered until his anxieties were drowned in quiet sleep.
It seemed but a minute later, it was in reality an hour, when he
was awakened by the glare of a torch held close to his face. The
smell of the pitch-soaked tow clung to him for months afterwards.
Dazed at first, he soon made out the swarthy features of the
Portuguese behind the torch, and met his keen eyes peering closely
at his own. The Portuguese clicked his tongue, and uttered an
exclamation of gleeful and vindictive satisfaction. Turning to the Arab
chief, who stood behind, just within the doorway, he cried in Arabic:
"It is the very man!"
Tom lay watching. Now that a crisis was manifestly at hand, his
tremors had ceased; his very life depended on his coolness and
nerve. De Castro had begun an impassioned speech to the grave
Arab. If Tom could have understood it, he would have heard him
say:
"You charge me, forsooth, with being a traitor, with betraying
you to the English--me, De Castro, the best hater of the English in
all Africa! There you have the man who spoilt your game--our game.
Man, I call him--that cub yonder, who tricked my boy away from me,
and paid him, no doubt, to spy on me!"
("Wonder if he's telling the chief how I punched him!" thought
Tom, noting the gleam and gesture of anger in his direction.)

"And you talk of accepting a ransom for him! Bah! 'tis the idea
of a white-livered fool! Ransom! Mustapha, you were not always like
this. Once upon a time you would have been hot for revenge--your
wrath would have been satisfied ere the sun went down. Now you
will sit supine after a shameful defeat, and take its price in gold!"
The Arab winced under the sting, and Tom saw him scowl as he
laid his hand on his scimitar. He was beginning to speak, but the
Portuguese gave him no time.
"Threats! I care not a straw for your threats. Come, Mustapha,
do not let us quarrel. Think! Who was it started this parrot-cry,
'Down with the slave-trade'? Who was it stopped the raids for ivory,
and hounded your people out of their ancient haunts till they have
no rest now for the soles of their feet? Who was it strewed the
sands of Egypt with thousands of your kin who were struggling in
Allah's name to rescue the country from the Ottoman tyrant? You
know who. We have had enough of these accursed English in Africa.
But for them the Arabs would have been masters of the continent
from Zanzibar to the Atlantic, from Tanganyika to the Great Sea. Bad
enough, the swines of Belgians; but they can be bought. You can't
buy these insolent dogs of English! Will you be deafened by their
barking, and lacerated by their bites? Do you, like a poltroon, throw
up the game? If not, let there be no talk of ransom, no faltering; let
it be blood for blood, till Africa is our own again."
The Portuguese had waxed more and more vehement, but Tom
was cool enough to look on critically as at an oratorical performance,
and he even smiled the usual British smile at the fervid, unrestrained
eloquence of the Southern races. De Castro went on in calmer
accents:

"Come, Mustapha, your men will think you afraid to touch a
white man if you allow this bear's whelp to be bought off. They will
say: 'Give Mustapha so many gold pieces, and you may draw his
teeth!' My friend, hand the cub over to me. I will make an example
of him for his countrymen to shiver at!"
The taunts, even more than the arguments, of the Portuguese
had roused the cruelty in the Arab's nature.
"Do as you like with him," he said impulsively. "It will teach
them a lesson. I can trust you, no doubt, señor," he went on with a
half-sneer, "not to let him off too easily. As for me, I have no taste
for butchering curs; I prefer to employ others."
The Portuguese glared for an instant, but, too glad to get the
long-coveted prey into his own hands, he pocketed the affront.
"So be it. To-morrow's sun will see what shall be done with him.
Meanwhile, haul the dog from his kennel. Why give him a
comfortable hut? Treat him like the rest."
The chief nodded. The Portuguese went to the door and called
in three of the usual guard of six.
"Here, men," he said, "the chief orders you to remove this
prisoner. Take him and tie him to yonder tree, and see to it that he
does not escape."
As the men approached, Tom sprang to his feet and prepared to
resist any handling by the Arabs. At this moment the hakim, who
had stood in a corner of the hut, came forward and spoke a few
words in the chief's ear. But they seemed only to strengthen the
Arab's resolve. He bluntly told the physician to mind his own
business,--that his intervention was vain. By this time Tom saw that
resistance was hopeless; a struggle would probably end in his being

butchered; and while there was life there was hope. He suffered
himself to be led out. The Portuguese himself superintended the
tying-up, the tree being the stout acacia shading the chief's hut.
Eight men were set to watch the prisoner during the rest of the
night, and with a look of malignant satisfaction in his evil face, the
Portuguese, no longer suspected or distrusted, repaired, a free man,
to his own quarters.

CHAPTER IX: Gone Away!
Through the Net--A Call in Passing--A Chase in the Dark--On the Track--Signals--
The Little People--Ka-lu-ké-ke--Visions of the Night
It was desperately cold. Since he had left Kisumu, Tom had spent
every night under a blanket, and, standing now with his back to the
tree, a rope about his waist, another about his legs, a third tying his
arms, he had nothing to defend him from the keen air but the
clothes he stood in, and was unable to gain warmth by movement.
He chafed under this bitter constraint; tried the strength of the ropes
by straining at them with all his might; gave up the effort in sheer
impotence, and wondered whether he should live to see another
dawn.
"The blackguards!" he said to himself. A whimsical smile
twitched his lips as he caught sight of the eight men set to watch
him, squatting around a fire some distance away, and beguiling the
time with a game somewhat resembling knuckle-bones. He fixed his
eyes on the fire, following the leaping flames, indulging his fancy in
imaging strange monstrous shapes; then recalled chestnut nights by
the big-room fire at school; by and by found himself whistling
"Follow up" and "Forty years on", at which the watchers dropped
their dice and their talk for a moment and turned their listening
faces towards him. Then the numbing cold began its soporific work.
He felt dazed; fantastic visions danced before his eyes. Presently his

lips moved without his knowing it, framing foolish remarks at which
it seemed that another self was laughing; then his head bent
forward, and he slept.
Somewhere about midnight it seemed to him in a dream that
water was trickling down his neck. He awoke and threw back his
head and hitched his shoulders, and felt that it was not water but
something sinuous and solid, caught between tie back of his head
and his coat collar. While he was wondering whether a snake had
sought refuge there from the cold, he felt the intruder withdrawn, or
rather was conscious that he had jerked his head away from it. The
next moment the cold thin line, of he knew not what, wandered
round and tickled his nose. Again he moved his head away. Now
fully awake, he concluded that a strand of some creeping plant was
dangling from the tree, and hoped forlornly that his discomfort,
already not far short of actual torture, was not to be increased in
any such irritating manner. He could not bend low enough to scratch
his nose. The detestable thing seemed to follow him. He might move
his head to left or to right, jerk it back or bend it forward, but he
could not avoid the persistent tickler, which he had now recognized
by the wan light of the moon, in her fourth quarter and sailing high,
as the leafless tendril of a creeper.
He was tempted to call out to the watchers, and ask them to
relieve him of this torment. But at the same moment he noticed that
the eight negroes about the smouldering fire had dropped their
heads on their knees, and that the creeper was swinging to and fro
with a regular pendulum movement that was hardly natural, and was
certainly not due to the wind, which blew fitfully in sudden gusts. It
flashed upon him that somebody, perhaps the hakim, was up the

tree, signalling to him. Bending his head back as far as he could, he
peered up into the branches. At the same instant, the dangling
switch ascended before his eyes; he gazed more intently, and by the
faint glow of the fire from below, rather than by the filtering rays
from the moon, he distinguished a crouching form at the fork of
bough and trunk. It might have been an animal, but while Tom was
still gazing up in a kind of dull amazement the form moved, a human
arm was stretched downward, and within the grasp of a human
hand a long blade caught a glint of red light from the watchers' fire.
Tom longed to snatch at it. There it was, three feet above his head!
He tore desperately at his fastenings, but the cords only cut into his
flesh. "Come down and cut me free!" he whispered; but just then
one of the Manyema turned his head, the knife was instantly
withdrawn, the figure crawled back upon the branch, and
disappeared from view.
Tom wondered. Surely the hakim, if it was the hakim, was not
going to desert him. He waited and fretted; minute after minute
passed; there was no sound, no sign. His heart sank; somnolence
was again creeping over his senses when, nearly an hour after he
had been first awaked, he heard a faint rustle in the tree above him.
He looked up; there again was the form, its features
indistinguishable in the foliage. As he gazed he saw a rod let down;
the long knife was swathed about the end. It came lower; it reached
the level of his hands, and stopped. He looked at it with wonder;
then from the tree came a whisper:
"Cut; quick!"
He almost laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion. His hands
were tied; his arms were bent in front of his chest, elbows and

palms together, and strong cords were wound tightly about the
wrists and forearms. But there was the sharp blade turned towards
him, within half an inch of the ropes, held stiffly as though some
malicious elf were bent on tantalizing him. Again came the eager
whisper:
"Cut, cut; up and down, up and down!"
The knife moved closer, it touched the rope about his wrists; he
felt its pressure. Was the thing possible? He tried to pull his cramped
arms apart, and found that, firmly as they were bound, he could
move them up and down for about an inch. He made a downward
movement, the ropes scraping against the blade; up again, then
down, again, again, with increasing rapidity as his excitement grew.
One of the guards heaved a great sigh; Tom instantly stopped
rubbing, and when the negro turned sleepily to look at the prisoner,
he saw him tied to the tree, his head bent on his chest, his eyes
closed. The man stretched out his arms, shifted his position, and
gave himself again to slumber. Then the knife moved again, the
rubbing was resumed; one strand gave way, then another, the
tension was slackened, and with one final wrench Tom found his
aching hands free!
He pressed them under his armpits to warm them and remove
something of the pain; but the figure above was impatient, insistent.
He lowered the knife still farther, and pressed it against the rope
around Tom's waist. Tom took it. A few moments' sawing severed
that rope also; then he stooped to his feet, and with three sharp
strokes upon the cords about his ankles his last bonds were
snapped, and he stood once more a free man. The negroes still
slept, and the fire had died down upon its embers.

What was he now to do? Who was his obliging friend? He had
little time to wonder; the rod was withdrawn into the tree; a few
moments later it came down--the knife was gone.
"Climb up, sah!" came the eager whisper.
Tom grasped the rod, set his feet upon the knobby bole, and
with exertions which strained the muscles of arms and legs to the
verge of cramp he heaved himself into the leafy bough. The figure
there clutched him as he was on the point of falling. "Sah! sah!" it
said with a sob of joy. Tom gripped Mbutu's hand, and sat for a
minute breathless, peering down towards the circle of sleeping
negroes. The wind blew with increasing force, rustling the leaves,
and the branch swayed heavily, grazing the hut's thatched roof.
"No time fink, sah," said Mbutu. "Must run away!"
But now that he was free Tom had recovered his wits, and saw
that if he was to get clear away he must exercise all his cunning.
There was the hut in which the chief, his enemy, lay; there were the
guards, sleeping, it was true, but likely to wake at any moment.
Around was the village, filled with Arabs, Manyema, and slaves; an
alarm would set hundreds of men on the alert, and there was but a
slender chance of escaping from so many. Beyond the village, three
hundred yards away, was the thin outer belt of the forest; could he
but gain that, Tom thought, he might hide and elude pursuit. There
was danger from wild beasts, no doubt; but a wild beast was less
dangerous than the vengeful Portuguese. It must be a dash for life
and liberty, he saw. How was he to escape immediate danger of
detection?
His quick eye noticed that Mbutu wore the burnous and turban
of an Arab. With a leaping heart he saw in a flash of thought his way

made plain. It involved manifold risks. "Never venture never win," he
said to himself, and proceeded to put his plan into operation. Tying
the knife again to the rod, but at an angle to form a crook, he let it
down, and hooked up the severed cords that lay at the foot of the
tree. He swiftly knotted them to form two strong ropes. Then
bidding Mbutu secure the knife and follow him, he crept cautiously
along the bough towards the hut. The wind was stiffening to a gale;
the horned moon was dipping behind the forest, and the hut lay in
shadow. He came to the end of the branch, and crawled on to the
roof, Mbutu following close. Moving only when the swaying bough
rustled against the thatch, drowning all other sounds, he made his
way cat-like across the roof, reached the edge, slid over, and slipped
noiselessly down one of the wooden posts supporting the thatch at
the distance of a foot from the wall of the hut. He was on the
ground on the side farthest from the tree. For some moments he
stood and listened. There was a sound of voices not far to his right,
and he thought he detected a low murmur from two or three
quarters. Evidently there were many still awake. Tom decided that
the plan he had formed offered a better chance of escape than a
mere dash for the forest. Taking off the turban with which he had
been provided by the hakim, he opened it out, and folded the sheet
of linen over and over until it made a long tight roll. In a few
whispered words he explained his plan to Mbutu; then, signing to
the boy to come after him quietly, he crept through one of the holes
in the wall, and found himself inside the hut. On a rude table a small
rushlight was burning, by whose glimmer he saw the chief stretched
upon his back on a narrow plank, his burnous cast aside, his long
form covered with a red blanket. He was fast asleep, with his mouth

open, his breath coming and going with long soundless heaves. With
heart beating violently in spite of himself, Tom stole behind the Arab,
and then whispered to Mbutu that he was to hold the man's head
when he gave the signal. Both then stooped; Tom gave a nod;
Mbutu pressed the chief's head down firmly with both hands, and at
the same instant Tom stuffed the rolled turban into his mouth, and
knotted it beneath his neck. He wriggled and half rose upon his
elbow; instantly Mbutu's arms were thrown around him, and he was
pulled backward and held in a firm grip. Tom had meanwhile run to
his feet, and, whipping one of the lengths of cord from his pocket,
he swiftly tied the chief's ankles together. Now that it was impossible
for the Arab to stand, Tom bade Mbutu assist him. There was a short
struggle, the Arab striving to wriggle out of Mbutu's grasp. It was in
vain; with the remaining cord Tom bound the Arab's arms together,
and in five minutes after their entrance the chief lay securely gagged
and bound.
Without losing a moment Tom donned the Arab's burnous and
turban.
"Do you know the nearest way to the forest?" he asked Mbutu.
The Muhima nodded, and Tom told him that, relying upon his
disguise, he was going to walk boldly through the camp. If they met
anyone, Mbutu was to address him in his own tongue in such a way
as to disarm suspicion. Tom reckoned on his own height to enable
him to pass for the chief. There was a box of matches by the
rushlight; he put that in his pocket, caught up a small bag of nuts
that lay beside the Arab, and without bestowing another glance on
the prostrate form, whose eyes were glaring at him with all the fury

of impotent rage, he walked slowly out of the hut, Mbutu a yard
behind.
They went quickly, stepping in the shade of the huts. Their way
led past the hut in which the Portuguese was sleeping. The African
native is sensitive to the slightest tremor of the ground, and one of
the negroes who had accompanied De Castro, and was acting as
sentry over him, crouching over a watch-fire, heard the footfall of
the two fugitives, and came round the hut towards them. He dimly
saw, as he supposed, the tall form of the Arab chief stalking by,
accompanied by one of his men. He stepped back, and at the same
moment Mbutu, with a power of mimicry that surprised his master,
addressed him in a few quiet words, bidding him keep good watch
over the señor, while Tom walked on with a dignified air, as though
the negro were beneath his notice. When out of the man's sight they
quickened their steps. They reached the outer circle of huts, evaded
the watch-fires placed at intervals, crossed the fence and ditch, and,
breaking into a run, plunged into the dense bush at the edge of the
compound. The fugitives had barely gone two hundred yards when
they heard a great outcry in the camp behind. One of the eight
guards had awoke and rekindled the dying fire. Glancing at the tree,
he discovered that the prisoner was gone. He roused his
companions, and with mutual upbraidings they began to dispute
who should venture to inform the chief of the escape. Their voices
rose in altercation, and De Castro's sentry, hearing the noise, came
to see what had happened. As soon as he knew that the Englishman
had escaped, he ran to his master's hut, whence in a moment issued
the Portuguese, swearing great oaths at being disturbed when he so
much needed rest, and for the moment not understanding what his

man said. A glance at the tree apprised him that his anticipated
victim had escaped his clutches. Heedless of the news that the chief
had but just before been seen walking through the camp, he rushed
to the hut, and finding Mustapha there bound and gagged, began
with frantic haste and fearful imprecations, in which he could not
refrain from mingling taunts, to cut him free. Both men were beside
themselves with fury. The whole camp was by this time alarmed,
and Arabs and Manyema alike cowered before the wrath of their
infuriated superiors. De Castro ran wildly about crying for torches,
while Mustapha ordered every man in the camp to set off in search
of the escaped prisoner, and despatched parties in all directions. He
went himself to the hakim's hut, believing that the Arab seen
walking in the prisoner's company must be Mahmoud and no other.
Meeting the grave physician as he came out to enquire the reason of
the uproar, the chief roundly accused him of effecting or conniving at
the release of the Englishman. The hakim's face showed neither
surprise nor pleasure; he was as coldly imperturbable as ever.
Quietly denying that he had had any hand in the escape, he asked
the Arab what he expected to gain by wild ill-directed searches in
the dark; the torches and the din would only give warning to the
fugitives, and help them to elude pursuit. Mustapha saw the
absurdity of his proceedings, and chafed under the cynical scorn of
the physician, whose calling and character enforced his unwilling
respect. Turning on his heel, he ordered drums to be beaten to recall
the search-parties, and enquiry to be made for the traitor in the
camp; and when De Castro came up to him, foaming with passion
and shouting that the whole thing had been planned to spite him,
Mustapha bade him keep a still tongue in his head, or he would find

himself in the Englishman's place. It wanted still more than three
hours to sunrise, and giving orders that the search should be
diligently resumed at dawn, the chief returned to his hut.
In the meantime the outcry had at first caused the fugitives to
hasten their steps; but, fearing that the rustle and crash of their
progress through the bush would arrest the pursuers' attention, they
dropped behind a fallen tree. Not many minutes afterwards a party
of Manyema who had outstripped the rest, keeping close together in
their mutual fear, came within a few yards of Tom's hiding-place.
There was one moment of suspense, then they passed on with
torches burning; but soon the tap-tap of the recalling drums
sounded through the wood, and they turned, passed within a few
paces of where the panting fugitives lay crouched, and retraced their
steps to the camp.
"All go back, sah!" whispered Mbutu gleefully. "No catch dis
night. All jolly safe now, sah."
"I hope so," said Tom. "It was a narrow shave, Mbutu. We'll wait
till all is quiet, and consider what we had better do."
"Must go on, sah; black men gone; rest by and by; time fink by
and by."
They rose and pursued their way into the forest, picking their
steps as best they could in the increasing darkness, among trees,
profuse grass, and creeping plants that threw their sprays in intricate
mazes across their path. When they had gone about a mile from the
camp the forest became so thick that it was impossible to proceed
farther that night. Mbutu suggested that they should climb a tree as
the best protection from prowling beasts, and wait until morning. To
this Tom agreed, and finding a trunk easy to climb, they got up into

its lower branches, and made themselves as comfortable as possible.
Their ascent caused a commotion among the feathered denizens of
their shelter, and Mbutu declared he heard the gibber of a monkey
angry at the disturbance of his ancestral home; but they rested
without molestation till the dawn sent feeble glimmers through the
foliage, and during that time Mbutu told his story.
His master's disappearance, he said, had caused the utmost
consternation and distress to the whole force. After some hours of
fruitless search next morning, the major had sorrowfully decided
that he must complete the object of his expedition, leaving all
further efforts to find Tom until his work was done. Promising, then,
a rich reward to any native who should give him information as to
the young man's fate, he had continued his march, and arriving at
the native chief's village, after a stubborn fight had burnt it to the
ground. Most of the inhabitants fled, among them the chief. The
major then returned rapidly over his tracks, and spent several days
in searching far and wide through the country. Mbutu, meanwhile,
had felt sure from the very first that his master was not dead, and
had accompanied the expedition in the hope that ere long some
trace of him would be found. Then, giving up hope of this, and
learning that the major had decided to return to Kisumu, he had
resolved to go on the search alone. Slipping away from the column
soon after it passed the scene of the ambush, he had cut into the
woods, and coming upon the dead bodies of Arabs, he had, as a
measure of precaution, appropriated the burnous and turban of one
of them. Then he sought for the trail of the retreating Arabs,
believing that his master was among them. Fortunately they had
marched in almost a straight line, so that he tracked them easily

until he came to the river where they had sighted the Belgians, and
there he was for a time at fault. But he encountered a native, who
informed him of the sharp fight at the swamp, and put him on the
right track again. Two days before he arrived at the camp he had
descried the caravan, and from that moment he dogged it patiently
and warily, at one point of the route creeping up so close that he
was able to see, from the shelter of a bushy tree, the figure of his
master among the Manyema guard. Then he followed up more
cautiously than ever, in the hope of discovering some means of
effecting the prisoner's release. No opportunity had offered, and his
heart sank when he saw the Portuguese join the caravan, still more
when, as he peered from a safe hiding-place among the trees, he
saw the Arab chief accompany De Castro to the hut where Tom lay.
The tying-up had made him desperate. He had thought at first of
creeping up and cutting his master free, but every time he took a
step forward towards the tree one of the guard moved, or some
noise had startled him, as a mouse peeping out from its hole is
startled by the faintest sound of movement. Then he had the happy
thought to climb the tree, and endeavour to cut his master's bonds
from above. The discovery that he could not reach was at first
agony, but he was strung up to a pitch of desperation that set all his
wits on the alert. He had crept back into the forest and cut the rod
to which he had tied the knife; and now, with touching earnestness,
he assured his master that he would never leave him until he was
once more safe among his own people.
"Poor old Uncle," said Tom, when Mbutu had ended his story;
"how I wish I could let him know I am alive and well and free! And
you, Mbutu, how am I to thank you for your faithful service? I can

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Systems Analysis and Design 9th Edition Shelly Test Bank

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Systems Analysis and Design 9th Edition Shelly Test Bank