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Ngoc Thanh Nguyen
Satoshi Tojo
Le Minh Nguyen
Bogdan Trawinski (Eds.)
LNAI 10191

Intelligent Information
and Database Systems
9th Asian Conference, ACIIDS 2017
Kanazawa, Japan, April 3–5, 2017
Proceedings, Part I

123
Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 10191

Subseries of Lecture Notes in Computer Science

LNAI Series Editors


Randy Goebel
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Yuzuru Tanaka
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Wolfgang Wahlster
DFKI and Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

LNAI Founding Series Editor


Joerg Siekmann
DFKI and Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/1244
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen Satoshi Tojo

Le Minh Nguyen Bogdan Trawiński (Eds.)


Intelligent Information
and Database Systems
9th Asian Conference, ACIIDS 2017
Kanazawa, Japan, April 3–5, 2017
Proceedings, Part I

123
Editors
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen Le Minh Nguyen
Wrocław University of Science Japan Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology and Technology
Wroclaw Nomi
Poland Japan
Satoshi Tojo Bogdan Trawiński
Japan Advanced Institute of Science Wrocław University of Science
and Technology and Technology
Nomi Wroclaw
Japan Poland

ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)


Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence
ISBN 978-3-319-54471-7 ISBN 978-3-319-54472-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54472-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017932640

LNCS Sublibrary: SL7 – Artificial Intelligence

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017


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Preface

ACIIDS 2017 was the ninth event in a series of international scientific conferences on
research and applications in the field of intelligent information and database systems.
The aim of ACIIDS 2017 was to provide an international forum for scientific research in
the technologies and applications of intelligent information and database systems.
ACIIDS 2017 was co-organized by Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
(Japan) and Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland) in co-operation
with IEEE SMC Technical Committee on Computational Collective Intelligence, Quang
Binh University, Vietnam, Yeungnam University, South Korea, Bina Nusantara
University, Indonesia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and the University of Newcastle,
Australia. It took place in Kanazawa (Japan) during April 3–5, 2017.
The conference series ACIIDS is well established. The first two events, ACIIDS
2009 and ACIIDS 2010, took place in Dong Hoi City and Hue City in Vietnam,
respectively. The third event, ACIIDS 2011, took place in Daegu (Korea), followed by
the fourth event, ACIIDS 2012, which took place in Kaohsiung (Taiwan). The fifth
event, ACIIDS 2013, was held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia while the sixth event,
ACIIDS 2014, was held in Bangkok in Thailand. The seventh event, ACIIDS 2015,
took place in Bali (Indonesia). The last event, ACIIDS 2016 was held in Da Nang
(Vietnam).
We received more than 400 papers from 42 countries all over the world. Each paper
was peer reviewed by at least two members of the international Program Committee
and international reviewer board. Only 154 papers with the highest quality were
selected for oral presentation and publication in the two volumes of ACIIDS 2017
proceedings.
Papers included in the proceedings cover the following topics: knowledge engi-
neering and Semantic Web, social networks and recommender systems, text processing
and information retrieval, intelligent database systems, intelligent information systems,
decision support and control systems, machine learning and data mining, computer
vision techniques, advanced data mining techniques and applications, intelligent and
context systems, multiple model approach to machine learning, applications of data
science, artificial intelligence applications for e-services, automated reasoning and
proving techniques with applications in intelligent systems, collective intelligence for
service innovation, technology opportunity, e-learning and fuzzy intelligent systems,
intelligent computer vision systems and applications, intelligent data analysis, appli-
cations and technologies for the Internet of Things, intelligent algorithms and brain
functions, intelligent systems and algorithms in information sciences, IT in biomedi-
cine, intelligent technologies in smart cities in the twenty-first century, analysis of
image, video and motion data in life sciences, modern applications of machine learning
for actionable knowledge extraction, mathematics of decision sciences and information
science, scalable data analysis in bioinformatics and biomedical informatics, and
technological perspectives of agile transformation in IT organizations.
VI Preface

The accepted and presented papers highlight new trends and challenges of intelligent
information and database systems. The presenters showed how new research could lead
to novel and innovative applications. We hope you will find these results useful and
inspiring for your future research.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Jarosław Gowin, Deputy Prime
Minister of the Republic of Poland and Minister of Science and Higher Education, for
his support and honorary patronage of the conference.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the honorary chairs, Prof. Testsuo
Asano (President of JAIST, Japan) and Prof. Cezary Madryas (Rector of Wrocław
University of Science and Technology, Poland), for their support.
Our special thanks go to the program chairs, special session chairs, organizing
chairs, publicity chairs, liaison chairs, and local Organizing Committee for their work
for the conference. We sincerely thank all the members of the international Program
Committee for their valuable efforts in the review process, which helped us to guar-
antee the highest quality of the selected papers for the conference. We cordially thank
the organizers and chairs of special sessions who contributed to the success of the
conference.
We also would like to express our thanks to the keynote speakers (Prof. Tu-Bao Ho,
Prof. Bernhard Pfahringer, Prof. Edward Szczerbicki, Prof. Hideyuki Takagi) for their
interesting and informative talks of world-class standard.
We cordially thank our main sponsors, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology (Japan), Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland), IEEE
SMC Technical Committee on Computational Collective Intelligence, Quang Binh
University (Vietnam), Yeungnam University (South Korea), Bina Nusantara University
(Indonesia), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia), and the University of Newcastle
(Australia). Our special thanks are due also to Springer for publishing the proceedings,
and to all the other sponsors for their kind support.
We wish to thank the members of the Organizing Committee for their very sig-
nificant work and the members of the local Organizing Committee for their excellent
work.
We cordially thank all the authors, for their valuable contributions, and the other
participants of this conference. The conference would not have been possible without
their support.
Thanks are also due to many experts who contributed to making the event a success.

April 2017 Ngoc Thanh Nguyen


Satoshi Tojo
Le Minh Nguyen
Bogdan Trawiński
Organization

Honorary Chairs
Testsuo Asano President of Japan Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology, Japan
Cezary Madryas Rector of Wrocław University of Science
and Technology, Poland

General Chairs
Satoshi Tojo Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Program Chairs
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Le Minh Nguyen Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Bogdan Trawiński Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Steering Committee
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
(Chair)
Longbing Cao University of Science and Technology Sydney, Australia
Suphamit Chittayasothorn King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Ford Lumban Gaol Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia
Tu Bao Ho Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Dosam Hwang Yeungnam University, Korea
Lakhmi C. Jain University of South Australia, Australia
Geun-Sik Jo Inha University, Korea
Hoai An Le-Thi University Paul Verlaine, Metz, France
Toyoaki Nishida Kyoto University, Japan
Leszek Rutkowski Technical University of Czestochowa, Poland
Ali Selamat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
VIII Organization

Special Session Chairs


Dariusz Król Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Kiyoaki Shirai Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan

Liaison Chairs
Ford Lumban Gaol Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia
Bao Hung Hoang Viethanit, Vietnam
Mong-Fong Horng National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences,
Taiwan
Dosam Hwang Yeungnam University, Korea
Ali Selamat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Organizing Chairs
Atsuo Yoshitaka Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Adrianna Kozierkiewicz- Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Hetmańska

Publicity Chairs
Danilo S. Carvalho Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Maciej Huk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Bernadetta Maleszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Publication Chair
Marcin Maleszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Webmaster
Marek Kopel Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Keynote Speakers
Tu-Bao Ho Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
Japan
Bernhard Pfahringer University of Waikato, New Zealand
Edward Szczerbicki The University of Newcastle, Australia
Hideyuki Takagi Kyushu University, Japan
Organization IX

Special Sessions Organizers


1. Special Session on Advanced Data Mining Techniques
and Applications (ADMTA 2017)
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Bac Le University of Science, VNU-HCM, Vietnam
Tran Minh Quang Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Bay Vo Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam

2. Special Session on Intelligent and Contextual Systems (ICxS 2017)


Maciej Huk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Goutam Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Basabi Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Qiangfu Zhao University of Aizu, Japan

3. Multiple Model Approach to Machine Learning (MMAML 2017)


Tomasz Kajdanowicz Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Edwin Lughofer Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Bogdan Trawiński Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

4. Special Session on Applications of Data Science (ADS 2017)


Fulufhelo Nelwamondo Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa
Vukosi Marivate Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa

5. Special Session on Artificial Intelligence Applications for E-services


(AIAE 2017)
Chen-Shu Wang National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan
Deng-Yiv Chiu Chung Hua University, Taiwan

6. Special Session on Automated Reasoning and Proving Techniques


with Applications in Intelligent Systems (ARPTA 2017)
Jingde Cheng Saitama University, Japan

7. Special Session on Collective Intelligence for Service Innovation, Technology


Opportunity, E-Learning and Fuzzy Intelligent Systems (CISTEF 2017)
Chao-Fu Hong Aletheia University, Taiwan
Kuo-Sui Lin Aletheia University, Taiwan
X Organization

8. Special Session on Intelligent Computer Vision Systems


and Applications (ICVSA 2017)
Dariusz Frejlichowski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Leszek J. Chmielewski Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
Piotr Czapiewski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland

9. Special Session on Intelligent Data Analysis, Applications and Technologies


for Internet of Things (IDAIoT 2017)
Shunzhi Zhu University of Technology Xiamen, PR China
Rung Ching Chen Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Yung-Fa Huang Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan

10. Special Session on Intelligent Algorithms and Brain Functions


(InBRAIN 2017)
Andrzej Przybyszewski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Tomasz Rutkowski University of Tokyo, Japan

11. Special Session on Intelligent Systems and Algorithms in Information


Sciences (ISAIS 2017)
Martin Kotyrba University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Eva Volna University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Ivan Zelinka VŠB, Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic

12. Special Session on IT in Biomedicine (ITiB 2017)


Ondrej Krejcar University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Ali Selamat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Kamil Kuca University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Dawit Assefa Haile Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Tanos C.C. Franca Military Institute of Engineering, Brazil

13. Special Session on Intelligent Technologies in Smart Cities


in the 21st Century (ITSC 2017)
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Artur Ziółkowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Aleksander Orłowski Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Katarzyna Ossowska Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Arkadiusz Sarzyński Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Organization XI

14. Special Session on Analysis of Image, Video and Motion Data


in Life Sciences (IVMLS 2017)
Kondrad Wojciechowski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Marek Kulbacki Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Jakub Segen Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Andrzej Polański Silesian University of Technology, Poland

15. Special Session on Modern Applications of Machine Learning


for Actionable Knowledge Extraction (MAMLAKE 2017)
Waseem Ahmad Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand
Paul Leong Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Muhammad Usman Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and
Technology, Pakistan

16. Special Session on Mathematics of Decision Sciences


and Information Science (MDSIS 2017)
Takashi Matsuhisa Ibaraki Christian University, Japan
Vladimir Mazalov Karelia Research Centre Russian Academy of Sciences,
Russia
Pu-Yan Nie Guangdong University of Finance and Economics,
PR China

17. Special Session on Scalable Data Analysis in Bioinformatics


and Biomedical Informatics (SDABBI 2017)
Dariusz Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Stanisław Kozielski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Bożena Małysiak-Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland

18. Special Session on Technological Perspective of Agile Transformation


in IT organizations (TPATIT 2017)
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Artur Ziółkowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Miłosz Kurzawski Blue Media Corporation, Poland
Tomasz Deręgowski ACXIOM Corporation, Poland
Włodzimierz Wysocki University of Technology Koszalin, Poland

Program Committee
Salim Abdulazeez College of Engineering, Trivandrum, India
Ajith Abraham Machine Intelligence Research Labs, USA
XII Organization

Muhammad Abulaish Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), India


Waseem Ahmad Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand
Toni Anwar Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Ahmad Taher Azar Benha University, Egypt
Amelia Badica University of Craiova, Romania
Costin Badica University of Craiova, Romania
Emili Balaguer-Ballester Bournemouth University, UK
Zbigniew Banaszak Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Dariusz Barbucha Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Ramazan Bayindir Gazi University, Turkey
Maumita Bhattacharya Charles Sturt University, Australia
Veera Boonjing King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Mariusz Boryczka University of Silesia, Poland
Urszula Boryczka University of Silesia, Poland
Abdelhamid Bouchachia Bournemouth University, UK
Zouhaier Brahmia University of Sfax, Tunisia
Stephane Bressan National University of Singapore, Singapore
Peter Brida University of Zilina, Slovakia
Andrej Brodnik University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Piotr Bródka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Grażyna Brzykcy Poznan University of Technology, Poland
The Duy Bui University of Engineering and Technology,
VNU Hanoi, Vietnam
Robert Burduk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
David Camacho Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
Tru Cao Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Frantisek Capkovic Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
Dariusz Ceglarek Poznan High School of Banking, Poland
Altangerel Chagnaa National University of Mongolia, Mongolia
Rituparna Chaki University of Calcutta, India
Basabi Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Goutam Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Kit Yan Chan Curtin University, Australia
Somchai Chatvichienchai University of Nagasaki, Japan
Rung-Ching Chen Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Shyi-Ming Chen National Taiwan University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
Yi-Ping Phoebe Chen La Trobe University, Australia
Jingde Cheng Saitama University, Japan
Yiu-Ming Cheung Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, SAR China
Suphamit Chittayasothorn King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Deng-Yiv Chiu Chung Hua University, Taiwan
Leszek J. Chmielewski Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
Sung-Bae Cho Yonsei University, Korea
Organization XIII

Kazimierz Choroś Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland


Kun-Ta Chuang National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Piotr Chynał Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Robert Cierniak Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland
Dorian Cojocaru University of Craiova, Romania
Phan Cong-Vinh Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Vietnam
Jose Alfredo Ferreira UFRN, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte,
Costa Brazil
Keeley Crockett Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Bogusław Cyganek AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
Piotr Czapiewski West Pomeranian University of Technology,
Szczecin, Poland
Ireneusz Czarnowski Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Piotr Czekalski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Paul Davidsson Malmö University, Sweden
Mauricio C. de Souza Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
Roberto De Virgilio Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy
Tien V. Do Budapest University of Technology and Economics,
Hungary
Grzegorz Dobrowolski AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
Habiba Drias University of Science and Technology Houari
Boumediene, Algeria
Maciej Drwal Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Ewa Dudek-Dyduch AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
El-Sayed M. El-Alfy King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Saudi Arabia
Nadia Essoussi University of Carthage, Tunisia
Rim Faiz University of Carthage, Tunisia
Victor Felea Alexandru loan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania
Thomas Fober University of Marburg, Germany
Simon Fong University of Macau, SAR China
Tanos C.C. Franca Military Institute of Engineering, Brazil
Dariusz Frejlichowski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Hamido Fujita Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Mohamed Gaber Robert Gordon University, UK
Ford Lumban Gaol Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia
Dariusz Gasior Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Janusz Getta University of Wollongong, Australia
Daniela Gifu Romanian Academy, Iasi Branch, Romania
Dejan Gjorgjevikj Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje,
Macedonia
Daniela Godoy ISISTAN Research Institute, Argentina
Gergő Gombos Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Adam Gonczarek Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Antonio Gonzalez-Pardo Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
XIV Organization

Manuel Graña San Sebastián University, Spain


Janis Grundspenkis Riga Technical University, Latvia
Quang-Thuy Ha Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU), Vietnam
Sung Ho Ha Kyungpook National University, Korea
Dawit Assefa Haile Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Pei-Yi Hao National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences,
Taiwan
Ctibor Hatar Constantine the Philosopher University, Slovakia
Marcin Hernes Wrocław University of Economics, Poland
Bogumila Hnatkowska Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Huu Hanh Hoang Hue University, Vietnam
Quang Hoang Hue University, Vietnam
Jaakko Hollmén Aalto University School of Science, Finland
Chao-Fu Hong Aletheia University, Taiwan
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Mong-Fong Horng National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences,
Taiwan
Jen-Wei Huang National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Yung-Fa Huang Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Maciej Huk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Zbigniew Huzar Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Dosam Hwang Yeungnam University, Korea
Roliana Ibrahim Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Dmitry Ignatov National Research University Higher School
of Economics, Russia
Lazaros Iliadis Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Hazra Imran Athabasca University, Canada
Agnieszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Indyka-Piasecka
Mirjana Ivanovic University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Sanjay Jain National University of Singapore, Singapore
Jarosław Jankowski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Chuleerat Jaruskulchai Kasetsart University, Thailand
Khalid Jebari LCS Rabat, Morocco
Joanna Jedrzejowicz University of Gdansk, Poland
Piotr Jedrzejowicz Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Janusz Jezewski Institute of Medical Technology and Equipment ITAM,
Poland
Geun Sik Jo Inha University, Korea
Kang-Hyun Jo University of Ulsan, Korea
Jason J. Jung Chung-Ang University, Korea
Janusz Kacprzyk Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Poland
Tomasz Kajdanowicz Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Nadjet Kamel Ferhat Abbas University of Setif, Algeria
Organization XV

Mehmet Karaata Kuwait University, Kuwait


Ioannis Karydis Ionian University, Greece
Nikola Kasabov Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Arkadiusz Kawa Poznan University of Economics, Poland
Rafal Kern Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Chonggun Kim Yeungnam University, Korea
Pan-Koo Kim Chosun University, Korea
Attila Kiss Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Jerzy Klamka Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Goran Klepac Raiffeisen Bank, Croatia
Blanka Klimova University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Shinya Kobayashi Ehime University, Japan
Joanna Kolodziej Cracow University of Technology, Poland
Marek Kopel Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Jozef Korbicz University of Zielona Gora, Poland
Jacek Koronacki Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy
of Sciences, Poland
Raymondus Kosala Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia
Leszek Koszalka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Malgorzata Kotulska Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Martin Kotyrba University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Zdzisław Kowalczuk Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
Jan Kozak University of Silesia, Poland
Stanisław Kozielski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Adrianna Kozierkiewicz- Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Hetmańska
Bartosz Krawczyk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Ondrej Krejcar University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Dalia Kriksciuniene Vilnius University, Lithuania
Dariusz Krol Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Marzena Kryszkiewicz Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Adam Krzyzak Concordia University, Canada
Tetsuji Kuboyama Gakushuin University, Japan
Kamil Kuca University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Elżbieta Kukla Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Marek Kulbacki Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Kazuhiro Kuwabara Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Halina Kwasnicka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Mark Last Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Annabel Latham Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Bac Le University of Science, VNU-HCM, Vietnam
Hoai An Le Thi Université de Lorraine, France
Kun Chang Lee Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
Yue-Shi Lee Ming Chuan University, Taiwan
Paul Leong Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
XVI Organization

Chunshien Li National Central University, Taiwan


Horst Lichter RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Kuo-Sui Lin Aletheia University, Taiwan
Sebastian Link University of Auckland, New Zealand
Igor Litvinchev Nuevo Leon State University, Mexico
Lian Liu University of Kentucky, USA
Rey-Long Liu Tzu Chi University, Taiwan
Edwin Lughofer Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Lech Madeyski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Bernadetta Maleszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Marcin Maleszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Bożena Małysiak-Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Neel Mani Dublin City University, Ireland
Yannis Manolopoulos Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Vukosi Marivate Council for Scientific and Industrial Research,
South Africa
Karolina Marzantowicz IBM Poland, Poland
Francesco Masulli University of Genoa, Italy
Mustafa Mat Deris Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Malaysia
Takashi Matsuhisa Karelia Research Centre, Russian Academy of Science,
Russia
Tamás Matuszka Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Vladimir Mazalov Karelia Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Russia
Joao Mendes-Moreira University of Porto, Portugal
Héctor Menéndez Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Jacek Mercik Wrocław School of Banking, Poland
Radosław Michalski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Peter Mikulecky University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Marek Milosz Lublin University of Technology, Poland
Jolanta Mizera-Pietraszko Opole University, Poland
Yang-Sae Moon Kangwon National University, Korea
Dariusz Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Leo Mrsic IN2data Ltd- Data Science Company, Croatia
Pawel Myszkowski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Grzegorz J. Nalepa AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
Mahyuddin K.M. Nasution Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
Richi Nayak Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Fulufhelo Nelwamondo Council for Scientific and Industrial Research,
South Africa
Huu-Tuan Nguyen Vietnam Maritime University, Vietnam
Loan T.T. Nguyen Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Vietnam
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Thai-Nghe Nguyen Can Tho University, Vietnam
Vinh Nguyen University of Melbourne, Australia
Organization XVII

Pu-Yan Nie Guangdong University of Finance and Economics,


China
Yusuke Nojima Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
Mariusz Nowostawski University of Otago, New Zealand
Alberto Núnez Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Manuel Núnez Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Mariusz Ochla IBM Center for Advances Studies, Poland
Richard Jayadi Oentaryo Singapore Management University, Singapore
Kouzou Ohara Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan
Tomasz Orczyk University of Silesia, Poland
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Shingo Otsuka Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Japan
Marcin Paprzycki Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Poland
Jakub Peksinski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Danilo Pelusi University of Teramo, Italy
Xuan Hau Pham Quang Binh University, Vietnam
Tao Pham Dinh National Institute for Applied Sciences, France
Maciej Piasecki Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Bartłomiej Pierański Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland
Dariusz Pierzchala Military University of Technology, Poland
Marcin Pietranik Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Piotr Pietrzak IBM Poland, Poland
Elias Pimenidis University of the West of England, UK
Andrzej Polanski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Elvira Popescu University of Craiova, Romania
Piotr Porwik University of Silesia, Poland
Petra Poulova University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Bhanu Prasad Florida A&M University, USA
Andrzej Przybyszewski University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
Tran Minh Quang Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Paulo Quaresma Universidade de Evora, Portugal
Ngoc Quoc Ly University of Science Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Mohammad Rashedur North South University, Bangladesh
Rahman
Ewa Ratajczak-Ropel Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Patricia Riddle University of Auckland, New Zealand
Manuel Roveri Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Przemysław Różewski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Leszek Rutkowski Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland
Tomasz Rutkowski University of Tokyo, Japan
Tiia Ruutmann Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Alexander Ryjov Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Virgilijus Sakalauskas Vilnius University, Lithuania
XVIII Organization

Daniel Sanchez University of Granada, Spain


Cesar Sanin University of Newcastle, Australia
Minoru Sasaki Gifu University, Japan
Moamar Ecole des Mines de Douai, France
Sayed-Mouchaweh
Juergen Schmidhuber Swiss AI Lab IDSIA, Switzerland
Björn Schuller University of Passau, Germany
Jakub Segen Gest3D, USA
Ali Selamat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
S.M.N. Arosha Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam
Senanayake
Natalya Shakhovska Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine
Andrzej Siemiński Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Dragan Simic University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Ivana Simonova University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Bharat Singh Universiti Teknology PETRONAS, Malaysia
Andrzej Skowron Warsaw University, Poland
Leszek Sliwko University of Westminster, UK
Adam Slowik Koszalin University of Technology, Poland
Vladimir Sobeslav University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Kulwadee Somboonviwat King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Zenon A. Sosnowski Bialystok University of Technology, Poland
Jerzy Stefanowski Poznan University of Technology, Poland
Serge Stinckwich University of Caen-Lower Normandy, Vietnam
Ja-Hwung Su Kainan University, Taiwan
Andrzej Swierniak Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Edward Szczerbicki University of Newcastle, Australia
Julian Szymanski Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Yasufumi Takama Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan
Zbigniew Telec Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Krzysztof Tokarz Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Jakub Tomczak Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Diana Trandabat Alexandru loan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania
Bogdan Trawinski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Hong-Linh Truong Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Ualsher Tukeyev al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan
Olgierd Unold Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Muhammad Usman Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science
and Technology, Pakistan
Pandian Vasant Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia
Jorgen Villadsen Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Bay Vo Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Ngoc Chau Vo Thi Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam
Eva Volna University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Gottfried Vossen ERCIS Münster, Germany
Organization XIX

Chen-Shu Wang National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan


Lipo Wang Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Xiaodong Wang Fujian University of Technology, China
Yongkun Wang University of Tokyo, Japan
Junzo Watada Waseda University, Japan
Izabela Wierzbowska Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Konrad Wojciechowski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Michal Wozniak Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Krzysztof Wrobel University of Silesia, Poland
Tsu-Yang Wu Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate
School, China
Marian Wysocki Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland
Farouk Yalaoui University of Technology of Troyes, France
Xin-She Yang Middlesex University, UK
Lina Yao University of Adelaide, Australia
Slawomir Zadrozny Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Poland
Drago Žagar University of Osijek, Croatia
Danuta Zakrzewska Lodz University of Technology, Poland
Constantin-Bala Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Zamfirescu
Katerina Zdravkova St. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia
Ivan Zelinka VŠB, Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Vesna Zeljkovic Lincoln University, USA
Aleksander Zgrzywa Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Qiang Zhang Dalian University, China
Zhongwei Zhang University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Qiangfu Zhao University of Aizu, Japan
Dongsheng Zhou Dalian University, China
Zhi-Hua Zhou Nanjing University, China
Shunzhi Zhu University of Technology Xiamen, China
Maciej Zieba Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Artur Ziółkowski WSB University Gdańsk, Poland
Marta Zorrilla University of Cantabria, Spain

Program Committees of Special Sessions


Advanced Data Mining Techniques and Applications (ADMTA 2017)
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Tran Minh Quang Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Bac Le University of Science, VNU-HCM, Vietnam
Bay Vo Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Chun-Hao Chen Tamkang University, Taiwan
Chun-Wei Lin Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate
School, China
XX Organization

Wen-Yang Lin National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan


Yeong-Chyi Lee Cheng Shiu University, Taiwan
Le Hoang Son University of Science, Ha Noi, Vietnam
Vo Thi Ngoc Chau Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Van Vo Ho Chi Minh University of Industry, Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Ja-Hwung Su Cheng Shiu University, Taiwan
Ming-Tai Wu University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
Kawuu W. Lin National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences,
Taiwan
Tho Le Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Dang Nguyen Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
Hau Le Thuyloi University, Hanoi, Vietnam
Thien-Hoang Van Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Tho Quan Hochiminh City University of Technology, Vietnam
Ham Nguyen University of People’s Security Hochiminh City,
Vietnam
Thiet Pham Ho Chi Minh University of Industry, Vietnam

Intelligent and Contextual Systems (ICxS 2017)


Basabi Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Goutam Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Hideyuki Takahashi RIEC, Tohoku University, Japan
Jerzy Świątek Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Józef Korbicz University of Zielona Gora, Poland
Keun Ho Ryu Chungbuk National University, South Korea
Maciej Huk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Masafumi Matsuhara Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Michael Spratling University of London, UK
Qiangfu Zhao University of Aizu, Japan
Tetsuji Kubojama Gakushuin University, Japan
Tetsuo Kinoshita RIEC, Tohoku University, Japan
Thai-Nghe Nguyen Can Tho University, Vietnam
Zhenni Li University of Aizu, Japan

Multiple Model Approach to Machine Learning (MMAML 2017)


Emili Balaguer-Ballester Bournemouth University, UK
Urszula Boryczka University of Silesia, Poland
Abdelhamid Bouchachia Bournemouth University, UK
Robert Burduk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Oscar Castillo Tijuana Institute of Technology, Mexico
Rung-Ching Chen Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Suphamit Chittayasothorn King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Organization XXI

José Alfredo F. Costa Federal University (UFRN), Brazil


Bogusław Cyganek AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
Ireneusz Czarnowski Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Patrick Gallinari Pierre et Marie Curie University, France
Fernando Gomide State University of Campinas, Brazil
Francisco Herrera University of Granada, Spain
Tzung-Pei Hong National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Agnieszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Indyka-Piasecka
Konrad Jackowski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Piotr Jędrzejowicz Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Tomasz Kajdanowicz Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Yong Seog Kim Utah State University, USA
Bartosz Krawczyk Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Kun Chang Lee Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
Edwin Lughofer Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Bernadetta Maleszka Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Hector Quintian University of Salamanca, Spain
Andrzej Sieminski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Dragan Simic University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Adam Słowik Koszalin University of Technology, Poland
Zbigniew Telec Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Bogdan Trawiński Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Olgierd Unold Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Pandian Vasant University Technology Petronas, Malaysia
Michał Woźniak Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Zhongwei Zhang University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Zhi-Hua Zhou Nanjing University, China

Special Session on Applications of Data Science (ADS 2017)


Partha Talukdar Indian Institute of Science, India
Jp de Villiers Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa
George Anderson University of Botswana, Botswana
Vukosi Marivate Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa
Bo Xing University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Benjamin Rosman Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa
Fulufhelo Nelwamondo Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
South Africa

Special Session on Artificial Intelligence Applications for E-services (AIAE 2017)


Chi-Chung Lee Chung Hua University, Taiwan
Mei-Yu Wu Chung Hua University, Taiwan
XXII Organization

Yuan-Chu Hwang, National United University, Taiwan


Ming-Hsiung Ying, Chung Hua University, Taiwan
Wei-Lun Chang Tamkang University, Taiwan
Hsien Ting National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Duen-Ren Liu National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Chih-Kun Ke National Taichung University of Science
and Technology, Taiwan

Special Session on Automated Reasoning and Proving Techniques


with Applications in Intelligent Systems (ARPTA 2017)
Shoichi Morimoto Senshu University, Japan
Yuichi Goto Saitama University, Japan
Hongbiao Gao Saitama University, Japan
Shinsuke Nara Muraoka Design Laboratory, Japan
Kai Shi Northeastern University, China
Kazunori Wagatsuma CIJ solutions, Japan

Special Session on Collective Intelligence for Service Innovation, Technology


Opportunity, E-Learning and Fuzzy Intelligent Systems (CISTEF 2017)
Albim Y. Cabatingan University of the Visayas, Philippines
Teh-Yuan Chang Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chi-Min Chen Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chih-Chung Chiu Aletheia University, Taiwan
Wen-Min Chou Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chao-Fu Hong Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chia-Lin Hsieh Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chia-Ling Hsu Tamkang University, Taiwan
Chi-Cheng Huang Aletheia University, Taiwan
Rahat Iqbal Coventry University, UK
Huan-Ting Lin The University of Tokyo, Japan
Kuo-Sui Lin Aletheia University, Taiwan
Min-Huei Lin Aletheia University, Taiwan
Yuh-Chang Lin Aletheia University, Taiwan
Shin-Li Lu Aletheia University, Taiwan
Janet Argot Pontevedra University of San Carlos, Philippines
Shu-Chin Su Aletheia University, Taiwan
Pen-Choug Sun Aletheia University, Taiwan
Chen-Fang Tsai Aletheia University, Taiwan
Ai-Ling Wang Tamkang University, Taiwan
Chia-Chen Wang Aletheia University, Taiwan
Leuo-Hong Wang Aletheia University, Taiwan
Hung-Ming Wu Aletheia University, Taiwan
Feng-Sueng Yang Aletheia University, Taiwan
Hsiao-Fang Yang National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Sadayuki Yoshitomi Toshiba Corporation, Japan
Organization XXIII

Special Session on Intelligent Computer Vision Systems


and Applications (ICVSA 2017)
Ferran Reverter Comes University of Barcelona, Spain
Michael Cree University of Waikato, New Zealand
Piotr Dziurzański University of York, UK
Paweł Forczmański West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Marcin Iwanowski Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Heikki Kälviäinen Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland
Tomasz Marciniak UTP University of Science and Technology, Poland
Adam Nowosielski West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Krzysztof Okarma West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Arkadiusz Orłowski Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
Edward Półrolniczak West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin,
Poland
Pilar Rosado Rodrigo University of Barcelona, Spain
Khalid Saeed AGH University of Science and Technology Cracow,
Poland
Rafael Saracchini Technological Institute of Castilla y León (ITCL), Spain
Samuel Silva University of Aveiro, Portugal
Gregory Slabaugh City University London, UK
Egon L. van den Broek Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Ventzeslav Valev Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

Special Session on Intelligent Data Analysis, Applications and Technologies


for Internet of Things (IDAIoT 2017)
Goutam Chakraborty Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Bin Dai University of Technology Xiamen, China
Qiangfu Zhao University of Aizu, Japan
David C. Chou Eastern Michigan University, USA
Chin-Feng Lee Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Lijuan Liu University of Technology Xiamen, China
Kien A. Hua Central Florida University, USA
Long-Sheng Chen Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Xin Zhu University of Aizu, Japan
David Wei Fordham University, USA
Qun Jin Waseda University, Japan
Jacek M. Zurada University of Louisville, USA
Tsung-Chih Hsiao Huaoiao University, China
Hsien-Wen Tseng Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
XXIV Organization

Nitasha Hasteer Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India


Chuan-Bi Lin Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan
Cliff Zou Central Florida University, USA

Special Session on Intelligent Algorithms and Brain Functions (InBRAIN 2017)


Zbigniew Struzik RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan
Zbigniew Ras University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
Konrad Ciecierski Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Piotr Habela Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland
Peter Novak Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA
Wieslaw Nowinski Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Warsaw, Poland
Andrei Barborica Research & Compliance and Engineering, FHC, Inc.,
Bowdoin, USA
Alicja Wieczorkowska Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland
Majaz Moonis UMass Medical School, Worcester, USA
Krzysztof Marasek Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland
Mark Kon Boston University, Boston, USA
Rafal Zdunek Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Lech Polkowski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland
Andrzej Skowron Computer Science and Mechanics, Warsaw University,
Poland
Ryszard Gubrynowicz Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland
Takeshi Okada The University of Tokyo, Japan
Dominik Slezak Warsaw University, Poland
Radoslaw Nielek Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Warsaw, Poland

Special Session on Intelligent Systems and Algorithms in Information Sciences


(ISAIS 2017)
Martin Kotyrba University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Eva Volna University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Ivan Zelinka VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Hashim Habiballa Institute for Research and Applications of Fuzzy
Modeling, Czech Republic
Alexej Kolcun Institute of Geonics, AS CR, Czech Republic
Roman Senkerik Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Zuzana Kominkova Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Oplatkova
Katerina Kostolanyova University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Antonin Jancarik Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Organization XXV

Igor Kostal The University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia


Eva Kurekova Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia
Leszek Cedro Kielce University of Technology, Poland
Dagmar Janacova Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Martin Halaj Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia
Radomil Matousek Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
Roman Jasek Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Petr Dostal Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
Jiri Pospichal The University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (UCM),
Slovakia
Vladimir Bradac University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Roman Jasek Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Vaclav Skala University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic

Special Session on IT in Biomedicine (ITiB 2017)


Golnoush Abae Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Orcan Alpar University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Dawit Assafa Haile Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Branko Babusiak University of Zilina, Slovakia
Pavel Blazek University of Defense, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Peter Brida University of Zilina, Slovakia
Petr Cermak Silesian University Opava, Czech Republic
Martin Cerny VSB, Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Richard Cimler University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Rafael Dolezal University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Ricardo J. Ferrari Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil
Tanos C.C. Franca Military Institute of Engineering, Praça, Brazil
Michal Gala University of Zilina, Slovakia
Jan Honegr University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Radovan Hudak Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia
Roliana Ibrahim Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Marek Kukucka Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia
David Korpas Silesian University Opava, Czech Republic
Ondrej Krejcar University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Kamil Kuca University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Juraj Machaj University of Zilina, Slovakia
Jaroslav Majerník Pavol Josef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia
Petra Maresova University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Reza Masinchi Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Marek Penhaker VSB Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
Jan Plavka Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia
Teodorico C. Ramalho Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Brazil
XXVI Organization

Martin Rozanek Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic


Saber Salehi Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Ali Selamat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Special Session on Intelligent Technologies in Smart Cities in the 21st Century


(ITSC 2017)
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdansk, Poland
Piotr Oskar Czechowski Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Ewa Glińska Bialystok University of Technology, Poland
Joanna Godlewska Bialystok University of Technology, Poland
Jarosław Hryszko Wrocław University of Technology, Poland
Dariusz Kralewski University of Gdansk, Poland
Kostas Karatzas Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Lech Madeyski Wrocław University of Technology, Poland
Maciej Nowak Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdansk, Poland
Helena Szczerbicka Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
Paweł Węgrzyn Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Artur Ziółkowski WSB University Gdansk, Poland

Special Session on Analysis of Image, Video and Motion Data in Life Sciences
(IVMLS 2017)
Artur Bąk Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Leszek Chmielewski Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
Aldona Barbara Drabik Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Marcin Fojcik Sogn og Fjordane University College, Norway
Adam Gudyś Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Celina Imielińska Vesalius Technologies LLC, USA
Henryk Josiński Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Ryszard Klempous Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Ryszard Kozera The University of Life Sciences, SGGW, Poland
Julita Kulbacka Wrocław Medical University, Poland
Marek Kulbacki Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Aleksander Nawrat Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Jerzy Paweł Nowacki Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Eric Petajan LiveClips LLC, USA
Andrzej Polański Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Joanna Rossowska Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Immunology
and Experimental Therapy, Poland
Organization XXVII

Jakub Segen Gest3D LLC, USA


Aleksander Sieroń Medical University of Silesia, Poland
Michał Staniszewski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Adam Świtoński Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Agnieszka Szczęsna Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Kamil Wereszczyński Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Konrad Wojciechowski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland
Sławomir Wojciechowski Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology,
Poland

Special Session on Modern Applications of Machine Learning for Actionable


Knowledge Extraction (MAMLAKE 2017)
Ajit Narayanan AUT University, New Zealand
Simon Fong University of Macau, SAR China
Parma Nand AUT University, New Zealand
Muhammad Asif Naeem AUT University, New Zealand
Philip Bright Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand
Akhtar Zaman Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Special Session on Mathematics of Decision Sciences and Information Science


(MDSIS 2017)
Hakim Bendjenna University of Tebessa, Algeria
Masahiro Hachimori University of Tsukuba, Japan
Ryuichiro Ishikawa Waseda University, Japan
Masami Ito Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan
Yoshihiro Hoshino Kagawa University, Japan
Evgeny Ivashko IAMR KarRC RAS, Russia
Diang-yu Jiang Huaihai Institute of Technology, PR China
Yuji Kobayashi Toho University, Japan
Hidetoshi Komiya Keio University, Japan
Michiro Kondo Tokyo Denki University, Japan
Ridda Laouar University of Tebessa, Algeria
Tieju Ma CEEEM, East China University of Science
and Technology, PR China
Mikio Nakayama Keio University, Japan
Hiroyuki Ozaki Keio University, Japan
Rohit Parikh CUNY, USA
Leon A. Petrosjan St. Petersburg University, Russia
Vincenzo Scalzo University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Kunitaka Shyoji Shimane University, Japan
Krzysztof Szajowski Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Wataru Takahashi Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
XXVIII Organization

Stefano Vannucci University of Siena, Italy


Alexander Vasin Moscow State University, Russia
Hongbin Yan CEEEM, East China University of Science
and Technology, PR China
Jun Zhang University of Kentucky, USA
Xingzhou Zhang Dalian University of Technology, PR China

Special Session on Scalable Data Analysis in Bioinformatics and Biomedical


Informatics (SDABBI 2017)
Hesham H. Ali University of Nebraska, Omaha, USA
José P. Cerón-Carrasco Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM),
Spain
Po-Yuan Chen China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
Rudolf Fleischer German University of Technology, Oman
Che-Lun Hung Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan
Sergio Lifschitz Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Stanisław Kozielski Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Xun Lan Stanford University, USA
Jung-Hsin Lin Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Pradipta Maji Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
Bożena Małysiak-Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Dariusz Mrozek Silesian University of Technology, Poland
Alessandro S. Nascimento IFSC, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Karin Verspoor University of Melbourne, Australia
Quan Zou Tianjin University, PR China

Special Session on Technological Perspective of Agile Transformation


in IT organizations (TPATIT 2017)
Jakub Chabik EBIT Company, Poland
Ireneusz Czarnowski Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
Bogdan Franczyk University of Leipzig, Germany
Anna Kosieradzka Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Dariusz Kralewski University of Gdansk, Poland
Leszek Maciaszek Macquarie University Sydney, Australia
Cezary Orłowski WSB University Gdansk, Poland
Edward Szczerbicki University of Newcastle, Australia
Artur Ziółkowski WSB University Gdansk, Poland
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All this had not prepared the girl for the desolate sight which met
her eyes. The great hall, which had looked so handsome with its
rugs, its old oak furniture and tapestry hangings, was barer than a
prison ward. A vast expanse of floor, once brightly polished, now
scratched and dirty; rough, bare walls with nothing to hide their
nakedness, formed a picture so dreary that she uttered a low cry. In
the huge fireplace a small wood fire burned low; an old retriever,
crippled with age and rheumatism, wagged his tail feebly without
rising at his master’s approach, and gave a feeble growl for the
stranger. A kitchen chair, with some of the rails missing; a small deal
table; an arrangement of boxes against the wall covered by a man’s
ulster; these formed all the furniture of the huge room. Freda
stopped short when she had advanced a few steps; and burst into
tears. Dick affected to laugh boisterously.
“I didn’t reckon on the effect these rough diggings would have on a
lady,” he said, in a tone of forced liveliness which did not deceive his
guest. “Why, this is a palace to some of the places I’ve stayed in
when in the Highlands. A man doesn’t want many luxuries when he’s
alone. But I suppose it shocks you.”
“Ye-es, it does,” sobbed Freda.
“Come and take a chair. I’m sorry there isn’t much choice; I’ve
ordered a couple of those wicker ones with cushions, but they
haven’t come yet. I’ll sit upon the sofa.”
But Freda knew that the pile of boxes on which he seated himself,
carelessly nursing his knee, was his bed. She had regained
command of herself, however, so she took his only chair, and looked
steadily into the fire. Dick sprang up again immediately, and affected
to look about him with much eagerness.
“What an idiot I am!” he exclaimed. “I believe I’ve forgotten to bring
in any candles; I know I was out of them last night.”
Freda said nothing, but sat very still. The tears were silently rolling
down her cheeks again. She waited while he rummaged in the table
drawer, and opened the door by the fireplace, as if in search. Then
quick as lightning, while his back was turned, she whipped out from
under her long cloak a large neat brown paper parcel, unrolled it,
and took out two candles, which she proceeded to fix on the table by
the primitive schoolgirl fashion of melting the ends at the fire. Then
she took out of the parcel a box of matches, and lit the candles. In
the meantime Dick had returned from his fruitless errand, and was
watching her helplessly from the other side of the table. When she
had finished, Freda dared not look at him, but tried furtively to draw
towards her the tell-tale parcel, out of which several small packages
had rolled. But at last she made a bold dash, and with a shaking
voice said:
“I know better than you think what a man is, left to himself. I know
—you’ve forgotten—to get in—any supper.”
By the time she reached the last words, her voice had dropped to
a guttural whisper. But she was so much excited that it was quite
easy for her to laugh long and naturally, as she opened, one after
another, a series of little packages, and spread them out before his
eyes.
“There’s butter and bacon, and a piece of cold beef, and tea, and
sugar, and even bread!” she ended in a shrill scream, with her breath
coming and going in quick sobs.
For, glancing up, she had caught on Dick’s face, which looked
more haggard than ever in the candle light, the terrible look of
hunger, real, famishing hunger. She looked down again quickly at
her provisions.
“Aha!” she cried in a quavering voice, “I know how to take care of
myself! I wasn’t going to trust myself to the tender mercies of a man!”
Dick said nothing, but she talked on with scarcely a pause.
“You’ve got some plates, I suppose, and one knife and fork at
least. Go and fetch them. Make haste, make haste!”
And she rattled her crutch upon the floor. The old dog was hungry
too; he came sniffing and barking about her, as if he knew that she
had brought help to him and his master. Dick had some plates and
knives and forks, and a broken teapot. These Freda arranged upon
the table with nimble, graceful fingers. For the moment, moved by
the unguessed extremities to which her host was reduced, she had
forgotten that the chief object of her visit was one of warning.
She was recalled to the truth in a startling manner. A handful of
earth and stones was flung up at one of the lofty windows by some
one in the court-yard. Freda sprang forward with a cry, her worst
fears confirmed; as Dick turned hastily from the table, she clung to
his arm and tried to speak. But at first words refused to come.
CHAPTER XXXI.
When Freda recovered her voice, Dick had broken away from her
restraining touch, and was moving, in a hesitating sort of way,
towards the door.
“Dick?” cried the girl in a frightened whisper, “Listen! I had
forgotten why I came. There are men coming here, perhaps to-night,
policemen from London, I think. Is—he—safe?”
Dick started, and began to tremble violently.
“Great Heavens!” he said in a hoarse voice, “how did you know?
How did you hear? Is it known all over the place?”
“I don’t know,” said Freda sadly, “but I don’t think it is. Barnabas
didn’t seem to know anything about it.”
He stood still for a moment, considering.
“Men coming here, you say! You are sure of that?”
“I am not sure that they are coming to-night, but they will come
sooner or later. One said they knew where he was, and the other
asked the way to Oldcastle Farm.”
Dick turned to her quickly and decisively.
“Do you mind if I leave you here alone for a little while?”
“No-o, but won’t you let me come too? Oh, do let me!”
“I can’t. It would only alarm him the more. You stay here, and if you
hear any one at the front door, don’t take any notice, but come
across the yard as softly as you can; and if you see a light shining
through a grating close to the ground on the other side, throw a
stone through, but don’t cry out.”
“Very well,” said Freda.
As Dick turned again to go, the provisions laid out on the table
caught his eye. With a hotly flushing face, he took up the bread and
cutting off a piece, said, with an awkward laugh:
“We may as well give him some supper, don’t you think so?”
Without a word, Freda loaded him with meat, bread and butter.
“The tea isn’t ready yet,” she whispered. “I’ll make it, and you can
come back for that.”
He nodded and went off, not without trying to utter some husky
thanks, which the girl would not hear. He had one of her candles and
a box of matches in his pocket. Left alone in the great bare room,
poor Freda felt all the womanish fears which the need of active
exertion had kept off for so long. Terror on her father’s account, grief
for poor starving Dick; above all, an awestruck fear that God would
not forgive such black crimes as some of those laid to their account,
caused the bitter tears to roll down her cheeks, while her lips moved
in simple-hearted prayer for them.
Presently the old dog, whom she had been feeding, pricked up his
ears and growled ominously. She sprang to her feet, but at first
heard nothing. Crossing the floor quickly and lightly, she opened the
door and listened. Somebody at the front of the house was knocking.
The summons, however, was neither loud nor imperative, and she
crept through the passages, fancying that it might perhaps be only
Barnabas Ugthorpe who had come back for her. Creeping into the
deserted kitchen, she peeped through the dusty panes of the
window, which was heavily barred. She could just see the outline of
a large hooded cart, and a couple of men standing beside it. At once
she knew it was the cart which had followed Barnabas Ugthorpe’s.
Retreating from the window as noiselessly as she had come while
the intermittent knocking at the front door went on a little louder than
before, she returned through the passage and slipped into the court-
yard. She knew where to look for the grating of which Dick had
spoken, having noticed it in the course of her investigations on the
occasion of her previous visit. It consisted of two iron bars placed
perpendicularly across a small opening in the wall of the very oldest
part of the building—the portion known as “the dungeons.” Freda
crept to the grating and stooped down. Yes, there was a light inside.
She took up a handful of earth and stones, as she had been told to
do, and threw them in with a trembling hand.
Instantly the light was extinguished.
Freda stole away from the grating, afraid that if the front door were
burst open and the police were to find her there, her presence might
afford a clue to her father’s hiding-place. If she got on to the top of
the old outer wall, she thought, she might watch the course of events
without herself being seen. She had hardly reached this post of
vantage when she heard a crash and a noise as of splintering wood,
and a few moments later she saw the black figures of half a dozen
men dispersed about the court-yard below. She was crouching down
in the narrow path that ran along the ruinous old wall, and peeping
over the fringe of dried grass and brambles which grew along the
edge. Suddenly she felt a hand placed roughly over her mouth and
eyes, so that she could neither see nor cry out. After the first
moment, she did not attempt to do either, but remained quite still, not
knowing in whose grasp she was. She heard the man breathing
hard, felt that his hands trembled, and knew that he was in a
paroxysm of physical terror. Was it her father himself? That thought
would have kept her quiet, even if his rough clasp had been rougher
still. As it was, the pressure of his hand caused her teeth to cut
through her under-lip.
Crouching still in the same cramped attitude, and still gagged and
blindfolded by the mysterious hand, she presently heard a stealthy
footfall close behind, and then a whispered word or two.
“Let her go,” hissed Dick’s voice peremptorily.
The next moment Freda felt herself free, heard a soft thud on the
earth below, and saw the figure of a man crouching close under the
wall on the outer side.
“Oh, Dick, will he get safe away?” she whispered, breathing the
word close to his ear.
“I don’t know,” answered Dick gloomily. “Sh! Keep quiet.”
But they had already been seen. In a very short time the men in
the yard below had found their way up, and Freda and her
companion found themselves flanked on either side by a stalwart
policeman.
“Hallo!” cried a voice from the court-yard, which Freda recognised
as Thurley’s, “have you got him?”
Dick said nothing, but Freda, moved by a sudden, overpowering
impulse, threw her arms round his neck and cried aloud:
“No, no!”
Thurley spoke again, in a hard, altered voice.
“Bring them both down here,” he said sharply.
But Dick would not suffer a strange man’s hand to touch the girl.
“I will take her down,” he said quietly.
And, escorted by a policeman in front and another behind, they
made their way down into the court-yard, and were conducted to
John Thurley, who, with a police-officer in plain clothes, evidently
took the lead in this expedition.
“What are you doing with that young lady?” asked Thurley harshly.
“That is no business of yours,” answered Dick. “By what authority
have you forced your way into my house?”
Thurley was about to answer, but the police-officer with him spoke
instead, in a conciliatory tone.
“You see, sir, we’ve got a search-warrant.”
And he produced a document at which Dick glanced hastily.
“Very well,” he said shortly. “But you won’t find any one here!”
“I hope not, sir,” said the man, touching his hat and stepping back.
Meanwhile Thurley, a good deal agitated by the discovery of
Freda’s presence, was trying to persuade her to let him send her
back to the Abbey at once. She refused simply but firmly; and turning
her back upon him, went straight to Dick, who had withdrawn a little
from the group. Thurley went up to him.
“If you have any of the feelings of a man,” he said, “which perhaps
is not likely, you will persuade this young lady to go back to her
friends.”
“I am with one of them now,” cried Freda, clinging to Dick’s arm.
“I think,” said Dick, whose deep voice was trembling, “that you had
better go back to your manhunting, and not insult people who have
done you no harm.”
“I have a right to interfere on behalf of this lady. I love her.”
“So do I,” said Dick in a low voice.
“You!”
“And Dick has more right to say so than you,” broke in Freda’s
clear voice, shaking with feeling, “for I love him!”
Dick pressed her arm against his side, but he did not speak.
Neither did John Thurley, but he reeled back a step, as if he had
received a blow. Then, with a shrug of the shoulders which was
meant to be contemptuous, but which was only crestfallen and
disgusted, he turned away and left the young fellow with Freda, while
he rejoined the search-party.
Neither Dick nor his companion spoke for some minutes. In all the
misery of this strange situation, with the messengers of the law
hunting high and low around them for a man who had incurred the
penalty of death, the new and strange delight each felt of touching a
loving hand, deadened the anxiety and the pain. Each felt the
intoxication of the knowledge that each was loved. Dick spoke first;
he looked down into the girl’s face and said gently:
“I am afraid you are cold, dear.”
She shook her head.
“No, no, no,” she whispered, “if they hear you say that, they will
take me away.”
He led her back into the house, and wished to place her in the one
chair by the fireplace in the banqueting-hall. But she would not take
it.
“Eat,” she whispered. “If they find you having your supper quietly
they will be more likely to believe that there is no one here.”
This was undeniably a good suggestion; and Dick took advantage
of it. But hungry as he was, having indeed been half-starved of late,
he would have eaten little but for Freda’s insistence. She waited on
him herself, cutting bread and butter, making the tea, hovering about
like a good spirit. He, however, having hungered for more than bread
during these solitary latter days, would have neglected the food
before him to watch her tender eyes, to kiss her little hands. But
whenever he turned from the table, he felt a peremptory touch on his
shoulder, and heard a stamp of Freda’s crutch and her commanding
voice saying:
“Eat, eat!”
So the minutes passed by, and their spirits began to rise. For,
although they did not tell each other so in so many words, both felt
that on this great happiness which was stealing upon them the
shadow of a great misfortune could not come.
When he had finished his supper, Dick drew his one chair to the
fireside, made Freda sit in it, and curled himself up on the ground at
her feet.
“Isn’t it strange,” said the girl, “that they leave us alone so long?
You don’t think they have gone away, do you?”
“No such luck, I’m afraid.”
“Hadn’t we better go out and see what they are doing?”
“Why should we leave off being happy any sooner then we need?”
“What do you mean, Dick? You don’t think they’ve—caught him?”
whispered she in alarm.
“No, and I don’t think they will catch him. But when we leave this
room we shall be just strangers for the rest of our lives.”
“But we shan’t! Oh, Dick, do you think I would ever treat you as a
stranger?”
“You won’t be able to help yourself,” said he, looking up at her with
a dreary smile. “You are so ridiculously ignorant of the world, little
one, and you’ve been so neglected since you’ve been here that I
don’t know how to explain the smallest thing to you without
frightening you. But I assure you that after this escapade to-night you
will never be allowed to go out by yourself again.”
“Escapade!”
“Yes. That is what you will hear your expedition called, and you will
never be allowed to make another. Quite right too. If you had been
left to run wild here, you would have been spoilt, and you would have
begun to mix up right with wrong like the rest of us.”
“I don’t think so,” said Freda gently. “I should have been told the
difference.”
“But who was there to tell you?”
“God would have told me.”
There was a pause, and then Dick said:
“You’re a Roman Catholic, aren’t you?”
“No, I was not allowed to be one.”
“Well, what are you then?”
Freda looked puzzled, and rather grieved.
“I don’t know, I’m sure.”
“If you’re religious, you must belong to some religion, you know.”
“Well, I’m a Christian. Isn’t that enough religion?”
“I’ve never met any sort of Christian who would admit that it was.”
Freda sighed.
“I am afraid mine is a religion all to myself then. But somehow,”
and she lowered her voice reverently, “I don’t believe it makes any
difference to God.”
“I don’t suppose it does,” said Dick gently. “I think,” he went on
presently, “judging by its effect on you, I would rather have your
religion than any other.”
“I wish you would, then,” she rejoined eagerly. “For then you could
never do wrong things and think they were right.”
“How shall I begin?”
“Go to church.”
“What church?”
“It doesn’t matter. Sister Agnes used to say that in every church in
the world there was some good spoken to those who wanted to hear
it.”
“I wonder what good Sister Agnes would have heard from old
Staynes?”
“Something, you may be sure. Or, how would his wife be such a
noble woman?”
More pleased by her ingenuousness than convinced by her
arguments, Dick promised that he would go to church, to the delight
of Freda, who thought she had secured a great moral victory.
They had forgotten the police, who were searching the house; they
had forgotten the jealous Thurley; when again the old dog, half
opening his eyes, gave a low growl of warning. Dick jumped up and
faced the door. There was no enemy, but Barnabas Ugthorpe,
wearing a very grave and troubled face.
“What is it? Speak out, man,” cried Dick impatiently.
“Let me teake t’ little leady aweay first, mester.”
Dick staggered.
“They haven’t—caught him, Barnabas?”
“Ah’m afreaid so.”
Low as he spoke, Freda caught the words. Overcome with self-
reproach for having momentarily forgotten her father’s danger, with
misery at his unhappy plight, she tottered across the room towards
the farmer, who, lifting her up in his arms as if she had been a child,
carried her straight out of the room, to the front door of the farm-
house.
CHAPTER XXXII.
The covered cart, in which the police had come, had now
disappeared. Beside Barnabas Ugthorpe’s cart was a gig, with John
Thurley standing at the horse’s head.
“This way,” said Thurley in a peremptory tone, as Barnabas was
carrying the girl to his own cart, “I’m going back to the Abbey and
can take Miss Mulgrave with me.”
Freda shuddered. The farmer said a soothing word in her ear, and
without heeding Mr. Thurley’s directions, placed her on the seat on
which she had come.
“If it’s t’ seame to you, sir, Ah’ll tak’ t’ leady mysen.”
“Pray, are you the young lady’s guardian?”
“Ah’ve as mooch reght to t’ neame as you, sir,” answered
Barnabas surlily. And without waiting for further parley, the farmer got
up in his seat and drove away.
Freda and her driver made their way back to the Abbey almost in
silence. All that he would tell her about the capture of the murderer
was that “t’ poor fellow was caught in a field at back o’ t’ house.”
Mrs. Bean was waiting at the lodge-gates for her, and Freda saw
by the housekeeper’s white face that she had heard the result of the
expedition.
“Oh, Mrs. Bean, it is too horrible; I can’t bear it!” sobbed the girl,
throwing her arms round Nell’s neck.
But the housekeeper pushed her off with a “Sh!” and a frightened
look round, and Freda saw that John Thurley was standing in the
deep shadow under the gateway. With a sudden cry the girl stepped
back, and would have run away to Barnabas, whose cart was just
moving off, if Thurley had not started forward, led her within the
gates with a strong but gentle hand, and closed them behind her. He
would not let her go until they had reached the dining-room; then he
apologised rather brusquely, and asked her to sit down.
“I can hear what you have to say standing,” she said in a low,
breathless voice.
“Why are you so changed to me? Why did you run away from me
just now?” asked Thurley, distressed and irritated. “It is by your
invitation I am here; you have only to say you are tired of my
presence, and late as it is I will go out and try to find some other
lodging.”
The instincts of a gentlewoman were too strong in Freda for her
not to be shocked at the idea of showing incivility to a guest,
however ill he might have requited her hospitality. She overcame the
abhorrence she felt at his conduct sufficiently to say:
“You are very welcome to stay here as long as you please, Mr.
Thurley. If my conduct towards you has changed, I hope you will own
that it was not without reason.”
“But I think it is,” said he stoutly. “It’s all to your interest that this
nest of smugglers should be cleared out; and as for a certain
cowardly criminal whom we have had to take up for something
worse, why, you have no reason, beyond your natural kindness of
heart, to be sorry he has met his deserts.”
Without answering him, and with much dignity, Freda turned to
leave the room. But the words he hastened to add arrested her
attention.
“To-morrow I have to return to London. Now as there may be
scenes in this place not fit for a lady to witness, in the course of
breaking up this gang, I intend to take you away with me, and to put
you under proper care.”
“Will you send me back to the convent?” asked Freda eagerly.
John Thurley, who had a strong dislike to “popery” frowned.
“No,” he said decidedly, “I can’t do that. But I will undertake to
have you well cared for.”
Freda paused one moment at the door, looking very thoughtful.
“Thank you,” she then said simply, as, with her eyes on the floor,
she turned the handle; “good-night!”
There was something in her manner which made John Thurley,
inexperienced as he was in women’s ways, suspect that she meant
to trick him. Therefore, from the moment she left her room on the
following morning, she felt that she was watched. Mrs. Bean had
evidently gone over to the enemy, being indeed convinced that John
Thurley’s plan was a good and kind one. When Freda announced
her intention of going to church, the housekeeper said she would go
with her. Freda made no objection, though as Mrs. Bean never went
to church, her intention was evident. Old Mrs. Staynes was delighted
to see the girl, and thanked her for coming.
“Why,” said Freda in surprise, “I should have come long ago, only I
didn’t know you, and I was afraid.”
“Two blessings in one day!” whispered the little woman
ingenuously.
And she glanced towards one of the free pews, where Freda, with
a throb of delight, saw Dick’s curly head bending over his hat.
Only once, throughout the entire service, did Freda dare to meet
his eyes, although they were, as she knew, fixed upon her all the
time. When she did so, she was so much shocked that the tears
rushed into her eyes. Pale, haggard, deathly, he scarcely looked like
a living man; while the great yearning that burned in his blue eyes
seemed to pierce straight to her own heart. She had to bite her lips
to keep back the cry that rose to them: “Dick, Dick!”
When the service was over, he disappeared before the rest of the
congregation had moved from their seats. Poor Freda tottered as
she went out, and had to lean for support on Mrs. Bean. She had
forgotten that the story of her father’s crime and capture would be
likely to be in every one’s mouth that morning; the whispering groups
gathering in the churchyard suddenly woke her to this fact, and stung
her to put forth all her strength to reach the Abbey quickly. John
Thurley met her at the gates.
“You will have to make haste with your packing,” he said abruptly
but not unkindly, “our train goes at four.”
“I will see to that,” said Nell.
Freda said nothing at all. She passed the other two, and went into
the house, and appeared, in due time, quiet and composed, at the
dinner-table.
When the meal was over, Thurley told her to go and put on her
things. She rose obediently and left the room; but instead of going to
her own apartment, she went to the library, and finding the secret
door as she had left it, closed, but not locked, had little difficulty in
opening it, and in securing it behind her. Now Thurley knew of this
door, since he had seen Dick come through it; so to secure herself
from pursuit in case he should guess where she had gone, Freda
closed the trap-door at the head of the narrow staircase, and bolted
it securely. Then, running down the second staircase, she locked
herself into the room where her father had made himself known to
her, and as a last precautionary measure, let herself down the rope
ladder into the cellar beneath.
He must go to London without her now!
The triumphant thought had scarcely flashed through her mind
when, with a start, she became aware that she was not alone. A man
was creeping stealthily from the opposite side of the room towards
her.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Freda was by this time getting too much accustomed to the shifts
and surprises of the smugglers’ haunt to be greatly alarmed by the
discovery that she was not alone in the underground chamber.
Besides, her indignation against Thurley gave her a fellow-feeling
with even the most lawless of the men he had been sent to spy
upon. So she cried out in a clear voice:
“It is I, Freda Mulgrave; I have come down here to escape being
carried off to London by John Thurley. Who are you?”
The man raised to the level of his face a dark lantern, turning its
rays full upon himself. The girl, in spite of the fact that she was
prepared to keep her feelings well under control, gave a cry of joy.
It was her father.
Freda stretched out her arms to him, trembling, frightened, crying
with misery and with joy.
“You have escaped!” she whispered. “Escaped! Oh, what can I do
to help you? to save you?”
Captain Mulgrave laughed, but with a quiver in his voice, as he
smoothed her bright hair.
“Calm down, child,” he said kindly. “I—I want to talk to you. Come
with me to the ruins! I want to get out to the daylight, where I can see
your little face.”
“But, father, John Thurley may still be about. He wanted to take
me away to London this afternoon, and I came down here to be safe.
Perhaps——”
“Never mind him. He shan’t take you anywhere unless you want to
go. Come with me.”
Surprised by the tone he took, which was not that of a hunted
man, Freda followed her father in silence along the underground
passage, and up the steps into the ruined church. Captain Mulgrave
then helped his daughter up the broken steps which led to the
window in the west front, and they sat down on the old stones and
looked out to the sea. A conviction which had been growing in
Freda’s mind as they came along, brightening her eyes and making
her heart beat wildly, became stronger than ever when he
deliberately chose this spot, in full view of any one who might stroll
through the ruins. It was a grey, cold day, with a drizzle of rain falling;
the sea was all shades of murky green and brown, with little crests of
foam appearing and disappearing; the sea-birds flew in and out
restlessly about the worn grey arches, screaming and flapping their
wide wings; the wind blew keen and straight from the northwest, but
Freda did not know that she was bitterly cold, and that her lips and
fingers were blue, for her heart and her head were on fire.
“Father,” she whispered, crouching near him and looking into his
face, “forgive me for what I thought. Oh, I see it was not true, and I
could die of joy!”
She was shaking from head to foot, panting with excitement.
Captain Mulgrave looked affectionately into her glowing face.
“Why, child,” he said, “there wasn’t a man or woman in England
who wouldn’t have condemned me! Why should you blame yourself.
When Barnabas Ugthorpe caught me, as he thought, red-handed, I
saw that nothing but a miracle could save my neck; if I lived, it was
sure to leak out. So I died. And they buried the murdered man
instead of me.”
“But father, the jury—were they all in the secret!”
“No. They viewed a live body instead of a dead one. I had a
beautifully painted wound on my breast, and I lay in the coffin till I
was as cold as the dead; and I took care that the jury shouldn’t be
warm enough to want to hang about long, or to have much
sensitiveness of touch left if they were inclined to be curious.”
“But, father, wouldn’t it have been less risk just to go away?”
“No, for my disappearance would have told against me at the
inevitable time, when Barnabas should babble out his secret. I
thought, too, that my supposed death would put the real murderer off
his guard, and that I might be able to track him down in the end.”
“Did you know who it was?” she asked in a whisper, after a pause.
“I guessed—and guessed correctly.”
“Who was it?”
“Bob Heritage.”
“And they have caught him?”
“Last night, hiding about the old farm-house. I went away
yesterday in my yacht, because I had got wind of the search, and
thought they were after me. This morning I came sneaking back to
find out whether you were safe, and Crispin was on the scaur with
the news.”
Freda listened to these details, conscious, though she would not
have owned it, of a secret disappointment in the midst of her joy at
learning her father’s innocence. In spite of the kindness he showed
when he was with her, she was to him only an afterthought. He had
made no provision for her safety yesterday, left her no directions for
her protection in the time of trouble which was coming. One other
consideration grieved her deeply: the shame and distress which had
been lifted from her shoulders now fell upon those of poor Dick.
These thoughts caused her to drop into a silence which her father
made no attempt to break. While they were still sitting side by side
without exchanging a word, they heard the click of the gate behind,
and a man’s voice saying “Thank you” to the lodge-keeper. It was
John Thurley.
Captain Mulgrave and he caught sight of each other at the same
moment, and the former at once came down. The meeting between
the two men was a strange one. Each held out his hand, but with
diffidence. Thurley spoke first.
“Captain Mulgrave,” said he, “I am indeed sorry that I should have
been the means of bringing justice down upon you. At the same time
I must say I should have thought that a man who had served his
country so well would be the last to have any hand in defrauding
her.”
Captain Mulgrave laughed harshly.
“ ‘My country’ rated my services so highly that in return for them
they turned me off like a dog. ‘My country’ made me an outlaw by
her treatment; let ‘my country’ take the blame of my reprisals.”
“I should have expected more magnanimity from you.”
“To every man his own virtues; none of the meeker ones are
among mine,” said the other grimly. “I have been disgraced and left
to eat my heart out for fifteen years. And I tell you I think the debt
between my country and me is still all on her side.”
“Perhaps your country begins to think so too. At any rate the
government, I feel sure, would be reluctant to prosecute you, as it
would have done anybody else in your case. For it would not be only
smuggling against you, Captain Mulgrave; it would be conspiracy.”
“The government knows, as well as I do, that prosecution of me
would lead to unpleasant inquiries and reminiscences. The same
party is in now that was in at the time of my disgrace; and as we are
on the eve of a general election, my case would make a very good
handle for the opposite side to use.”
“Well, don’t count on that too much. You can’t deny it is a serious
offence to form such an organisation for illegal purposes as you have
done. This place must be cleared out, the underground passages
(which I know all about) blocked up; and if you don’t find it
convenient to leave England for a time, I am afraid you’ll find that
your past services won’t save you from arrest.”
“The organisation is better worked than you think; my going away
will not break it up. There’s another good head in it.”
“If you mean Crispin Bean’s, it is a good head indeed. On finding,
this morning, that the game was up, he came to me and gave me full
details of the band, its working, names, everything.”
Captain Mulgrave was not only astonished, he was incredulous.
“The d——l he did!” he muttered.
And it was not until John Thurley had read him out some notes he
had taken down during Crispin’s confession, that the master of Sea-
Mew Abbey would believe that his lieutenant had gone over to the
enemy. Then he shrugged his shoulders and chose a cigar very
carefully.
“Will you have one?” he said, offering the case to Thurley. “They
smoke none the worse for being contraband.”
John Thurley declined.
“Ah, well,” continued the other, “I bear you no ill-will for causing my
expatriation, especially as in doing so you have cleared my name of
a charge I saw no means of disproving. By-the-bye, why didn’t you
speak out sooner about the murder?”
“Because I had no very strong evidence myself. I put the case in
the hands of the police, and detectives were sent down here who
discovered that a man on horseback had come from Oldcastle Farm
on the day of the murder, that he had tied up his horse in a shed at
the bottom of the hill, just outside the town, and had been seen with
a revolver in his hand making his way across the field to the spot
where Barnabas Ugthorpe found the body. The man was identified
as Robert Heritage; it was found out that he had just learnt the
servant’s intention to betray his master’s secrets to you. This is
evidence enough to try the man on, if not to hang him.”
“And the cousin, what becomes of him?”
This was the question Freda had been dying to ask, and she drew
near, clasping her hands tightly in her anxiety to learn Dick’s fate.
“I don’t quite know. He seems to have been used as a tool from a
very early age by his good-for-nothing cousin. It’s an exceedingly
awkward business, especially for me, as I am distantly connected
with the family, and I feel for the poor lady very much. I must look
into their affairs, and try to get the farm let for her benefit. As for this
Dick, he had better emigrate.”
“He won’t do that,” interrupted Freda quickly.
“He would rather starve than leave his old home!”
Both gentlemen turned in surprise, for the girl spoke with feeling
and fire. John Thurley looked hurt and angry, her father only
amused.
“What do you know about the young rascal’s sentiments?” asked
the latter.
“I only know what he told me,” she answered simply, with a blush.
There was a pause in the talk for a few minutes. Then Captain
Mulgrave said:
“We might go over to the farm this afternoon, and see the fellow.”
The other assented without alacrity. There was another person to
be provided for, whose welfare interested him more than that of a
hundred young men.
“What about your daughter?” he asked in a constrained voice.
“Oh, Freda’s going back to the convent. You have always wanted
to, haven’t you, child?”
“Yes, father,” answered the girl, who had, however, suddenly fallen
a-trembling at the suggestion.
“I—I could have provided for her better than that, if—if she had
chosen,” said John Thurley, blushing as shyly as a girl, and finding a
difficulty in getting his words out.
“Eh! You? cried Captain Mulgrave. Do you mean that you thought
of marrying my little lame girl? Here, Freda, what do you say to
that?”
Freda blushed and kept her eyes on the ground.
“I say, father, that I am very much obliged to Mr. Thurley, but I
would rather go back to the convent, if you please.”
“You hear that, Mr. Thurley? I told you so. The child was born for a
nun—takes to the veil as a duck does to water.”
But John Thurley did not feel so sure of that, and he looked
troubled.
When, later in the day, the dogcart stood at the door waiting for the
two gentlemen, they found Freda standing beside it in her outdoor
dress.
“What, little one, are you going with us?” asked Captain Mulgrave.
“Yes, if you will please take me, father.”
“Well, as you’re going to see so little more of the world, I suppose
you must be humoured. Jump up in front. Mr. Thurley, will you drive,
or shall I?”
“You drive one way, and I the other, if you will let me.”
“All right. You’ll take the reins coming back then.”
And Freda saw by the expression of John Thurley’s face that he
was too much annoyed to wish to sit by her just then.

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