sub Return_Middle
{
    my @list = @_;
    return @list if ( scalar(@list) == 2 or
                      scalar(@list) == 1 );
    my @sorted = sort { $a <=> $b || $a cmp $b } @list;
    my @middle = drill_down(@sorted);
    return @middle;
      

   sub drill_down
   {
       my @list = @_;
       return @list if ( scalar(@list) == 2 );
       return @list if ( scalar(@list) == 1 );
       splice @list, -1, 1;
       splice @list, 0, 1;
       drill_down(@list);
   }
}

##</code><code>##

my $SORTED   = \&Do_Sort;

sub Return_First
{
    return $SORTED->(@_)->[0];
}

sub Return_Last
{
    return $SORTED->(@_)->[$#{ $SORTED }];
}

sub Return_Middle
{
    return $SORTED->(@_) if @_ < 3;
    splice @_, -1, 1;
    splice @_, 0, 1;
    Return_Middle(@_);
}

sub Do_Sort
{
    sort { $a <=> $b || $a cmp $b } @_;
}