public class PTNode {
    private String elem;
    private PTNode [ ] child = new PTNode [26];
    
    //constructor takes a String
    public PTNode (String w) {
    	elem = w;
	}
        
    //retrieve the String contained within the node
    public String getElem ( ) {
    	return elem;
    }
    
    //set the String within the node
    public void setElem (String w) {
    	elem = w;
	}
    
    //get a reference to a specific child of this node
    public PTNode getChild (char ch) {
    	return child[ch - 'a']; //this uses char arithmetic so the indexing will work correctly
	}
    
    //set a child of this node at the right index, with a String
    public void setChild (char ch, String w) {
    	child[ch - 'a'] = new PTNode (w);
	}
}