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Brief Contents
Preface xv
About the Authors xxvii

ChapTer 1 Introduction to Control Systems 1

ChapTer 2 Mathematical Models of Systems 51

ChapTer 3 State Variable Models 156

ChapTer 4 Feedback Control System Characteristics 228

ChapTer 5 The Performance of Feedback Control Systems 293

ChapTer 6 The Stability of Linear Feedback Systems 366

ChapTer 7 The Root Locus Method 418

ChapTer 8 Frequency Response Methods 517

ChapTer 9 Stability in the Frequency Domain 594

ChapTer 10 The Design of Feedback Control Systems 700

ChapTer 11 The Design of State Variable Feedback Systems 784

ChapTer 12 Robust Control Systems 854

ChapTer 13 Digital Control Systems 917

References 969
Index 986

vii
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface xv
About the Authors xxvii

ChapTer 1 Introduction to Control Systems 1


1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Brief History of Automatic Control 5
1.3 Examples of Control Systems 11
1.4 Engineering Design 18
1.5 Control System Design 19
1.6 Mechatronic Systems 22
1.7 Green Engineering 26
1.8 The Future Evolution of Control Systems 27
1.9 Design Examples 29
1.10 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 33
1.11 Summary 36
Skills Check 36 • Exercises 39 • Problems 40 • Advanced
Problems 45 • Design Problems 48 • Terms and Concepts 50

ChapTer 2 Mathematical Models of Systems 51


2.1 Introduction 52
2.2 Differential Equations of Physical Systems 52
2.3 Linear Approximations of Physical Systems 57
2.4 The Laplace Transform 60
2.5 The Transfer Function of Linear Systems 67
2.6 Block Diagram Models 79
2.7 Signal-Flow Graph Models 84
2.8 Design Examples 91
2.9 The Simulation of Systems Using Control Design Software 108
2.10 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 122
2.11 Summary 125
Skills Check 126 • Exercises 130 • Problems 136 • Advanced
Problems 148 • Design Problems 150 • Computer Problems 152 •
Terms and Concepts 154

ChapTer 3 State Variable Models 156


3.1 Introduction 157
3.2 The State Variables of a Dynamic System 157
3.3 The State Differential Equation 160
ix
x Contents
3.4 Signal-Flow Graph and Block Diagram Models 166
3.5 Alternative Signal-Flow Graph and Block Diagram Models 177
3.6 The Transfer Function from the State Equation 181
3.7 The Time Response and the State Transition Matrix 182
3.8 Design Examples 186
3.9 Analysis of State Variable Models Using Control Design
Software 200
3.10 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 204
3.11 Summary 207
Skills Check 208 • Exercises 211 • Problems 214 • Advanced
Problems 222 • Design Problems 224 • Computer Problems 225 •
Terms and Concepts 226

ChapTer 4 Feedback Control System Characteristics 228


4.1 Introduction 229
4.2 Error Signal Analysis 231
4.3 Sensitivity of Control Systems to Parameter Variations 233
4.4 Disturbance Signals in a Feedback Control System 236
4.5 Control of the Transient Response 241
4.6 Steady-State Error 244
4.7 The Cost of Feedback 246
4.8 Design Examples 247
4.9 Control System Characteristics Using Control Design
Software 257
4.10 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 263
4.11 Summary 267
Skills Check 268 • Exercises 272 • Problems 276 • Advanced
Problems 282 • Design Problems 285 • Computer Problems 289 •
Terms and Concepts 292

ChapTer 5 The Performance of Feedback Control Systems 293


5.1 Introduction 294
5.2 Test Input Signals 294
5.3 Performance of Second-Order Systems 297
5.4 Effects of a Third Pole and a Zero on the Second-Order System
Response 302
5.5 The s-Plane Root Location and the Transient Response 307
5.6 The Steady-State Error of Feedback Control Systems 309
5.7 Performance Indices 316
5.8 The Simplification of Linear Systems 321
5.9 Design Examples 324
5.10 System Performance Using Control Design Software 336
5.11 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 342
Contents xi
5.12 Summary 344
Skills Check 345 • Exercises 348 • Problems 351 • Advanced
Problems 357 • Design Problems 359 • Computer Problems 362 •
Terms and Concepts 365

ChapTer 6 The Stability of Linear Feedback Systems 366


6.1 The Concept of Stability 367
6.2 The Routh–Hurwitz Stability Criterion 371
6.3 The Relative Stability of Feedback Control Systems 379
6.4 The Stability of State Variable Systems 380
6.5 Design Examples 383
6.6 System Stability Using Control Design Software 391
6.7 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 397
6.8 Summary 399
Skills Check 400 • Exercises 403 • Problems 405 • Advanced
Problems 410 • Design Problems 413 • Computer Problems 415 •
Terms and Concepts 417

ChapTer 7 The Root Locus Method 418


7.1 Introduction 419
7.2 The Root Locus Concept 419
7.3 The Root Locus Procedure 424
7.4 Parameter Design by the Root Locus Method 438
7.5 Sensitivity and the Root Locus 444
7.6 PID Controllers 449
7.7 Negative Gain Root Locus 460
7.8 Design Examples 465
7.9 The Root Locus Using Control Design Software 474
7.10 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 480
7.11 Summary 482
Skills Check 486 • Exercises 490 • Problems 494 • Advanced
Problems 503 • Design Problems 507 • Computer Problems 513 •
Terms and Concepts 515

ChapTer 8 Frequency Response Methods 517


8.1 Introduction 518
8.2 Frequency Response Plots 520
8.3 Frequency Response Measurements 541
8.4 Performance Specifications in the Frequency Domain 543
8.5 Log-Magnitude and Phase Diagrams 546
8.6 Design Examples 547
8.7 Frequency Response Methods Using Control Design Software 556
xii Contents
8.8 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 561
8.9 Summary 563
Skills Check 568 • Exercises 573 • Problems 576 • Advanced
Problems 585 • Design Problems 587 • Computer Problems 590
Terms and Concepts 592

ChapTer 9 Stability in the Frequency Domain 594


9.1 Introduction 595
9.2 Mapping Contours in the s-Plane 596
9.3 The Nyquist Criterion 602
9.4 Relative Stability and the Nyquist Criterion 613
9.5 Time-Domain Performance Criteria in the Frequency Domain 620
9.6 System Bandwidth 627
9.7 The Stability of Control Systems with Time Delays 627
9.8 Design Examples 631
9.9 PID Controllers in the Frequency Domain 649
9.10 Stability in the Frequency Domain Using Control Design Software 650
9.11 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 658
9.12 Summary 661
Skills Check 670 • Exercises 673 • Problems 679 • Advanced
Problems 689 • Design Problems 692 • Computer Problems 697 •
Terms and Concepts 699

ChapTer 10 The Design of Feedback Control Systems 700


10.1 Introduction 701
10.2 Approaches to System Design 702
10.3 Cascade Compensators 703
10.4 Phase-Lead Design Using the Bode Plot 707
10.5 Phase-Lead Design Using the Root Locus 713
10.6 System Design Using Integration Compensators 719
10.7 Phase-Lag Design Using the Root Locus 722
10.8 Phase-Lag Design Using the Bode Plot 725
10.9 Design on the Bode Plot Using Analytical Methods 730
10.10 Systems with a Prefilter 731
10.11 Design for Deadbeat Response 734
10.12 Design Examples 736
10.13 System Design Using Control Design Software 746
10.14 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 753
10.15 Summary 755
Skills Check 756 • Exercises 760 • Problems 764 • Advanced
Problems 773 • Design Problems 776 • Computer Problems 780 •
Terms and Concepts 783
Contents xiii

ChapTer 11 The Design of State Variable Feedback Systems 784


11.1 Introduction 785
11.2 Controllability and Observability 785
11.3 Full-State Feedback Control Design 791
11.4 Observer Design 797
11.5 Integrated Full-State Feedback and Observer 801
11.6 Reference Inputs 807
11.7 Optimal Control Systems 809
11.8 Internal Model Design 817
11.9 Design Examples 820
11.10 State Variable Design Using Control Design Software 827
11.11 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 832
11.12 Summary 834
Skills Check 834 • Exercises 838 • Problems 840 • Advanced
Problems 844 • Design Problems 847 • Computer Problems 850 •
Terms and Concepts 852

ChapTer 12 Robust Control Systems 854


12.1 Introduction 855
12.2 Robust Control Systems and System Sensitivity 856
12.3 Analysis of Robustness 860
12.4 Systems with Uncertain Parameters 862
12.5 The Design of Robust Control Systems 864
12.6 The Design of Robust PID-Controlled Systems 868
12.7 The Robust Internal Model Control System 872
12.8 Design Examples 875
12.9 The Pseudo-Quantitative Feedback System 886
12.10 Robust Control Systems Using Control Design Software 888
12.11 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 891
12.12 Summary 893
Skills Check 895 • Exercises 899 • Problems 900 • Advanced
Problems 905 • Design Problems 908 • Computer Problems 913 •
Terms and Concepts 915

ChapTer 13 Digital Control Systems 917


13.1 Introduction 918
13.2 Digital Computer Control System Applications 918
13.3 Sampled-Data Systems 920
13.4 The z-Transform 923
13.5 Closed-Loop Feedback Sampled-Data Systems 927
13.6 Performance of a Sampled-Data, Second-Order System 931
xiv Contents
13.7 Closed-Loop Systems with Digital Computer Compensation 933
13.8 The Root Locus of Digital Control Systems 936
13.9 Implementation of Digital Controllers 940
13.10 Design Examples 940
13.11 Digital Control Systems Using Control Design Software 949
13.12 Sequential Design Example: Disk Drive Read System 954
13.13 Summary 956
Skills Check 956 • Exercises 960 • Problems 962 • Advanced
Problems 964 • Design Problems 965 • Computer Problems 967 •
Terms and Concepts 968

References 969
Index 986

WeB reSoUrCeS

appendix a MATLAB Basics


appendix B MathScript RT Module Basics
appendix C Symbols, Units, and Conversion Factors
appendix d Laplace Transform Pairs
appendix e An Introduction to Matrix Algebra
appendix F Decibel Conversion
appendix G Complex Numbers
appendix h z-Transform Pairs Preface
appendix i Discrete-Time Evaluation of the Time Response
Preface

Modern Control SySteMS—the Book

Global issues such as climate change, clean water, sustainability, waste management,
emissions reduction, and minimizing raw material and energy use have led many
engineers to re-think existing approaches to engineering design. One outcome of the
evolving design strategy is to consider green engineering. The goal of green engineering
is to design products that minimize pollution, reduce the risk to human health, and
improve the environment. Applying the principles of green engineering highlights the
power of feedback control systems as an enabling technology.
To reduce greenhouse gases and minimize pollution, it is necessary to improve
both the quality and quantity of our environmental monitoring systems. One exam-
ple is to use wireless measurements on mobile sensing platforms to measure the
external environment. Another example is to monitor the quality of the delivered
power to measure leading and lagging power, voltage variations, and waveform
harmonics. Many green engineering systems and components require careful
monitoring of current and voltages. For example, current transformers are used
in various capacities for measuring and monitoring current within the power grid
network of interconnected systems used to deliver electricity. Sensors are key com-
ponents of any feedback control system because the measurements provide the
required information as to the state of the system so the control system can take
the appropriate action.
The role of control systems in green engineering will continue to expand as the
global issues facing us require ever increasing levels of automation and precision.
In the book, we present key examples from green engineering such as wind turbine
control and modeling of a photovoltaic generator for feedback control to achieve
maximum power delivery as the sunlight varies over time.
The wind and sun are important sources of renewable energy around the world.
Wind energy conversion to electric power is achieved by wind energy turbines con-
nected to electric generators. The intermittency characteristic of the wind makes
smart grid development essential to bring the energy to the power grid when it
is available and to provide energy from other sources when the wind dies down
or is disrupted. A smart grid can be viewed as a system comprised of hardware
and software that routes power more reliably and efficiently to homes, businesses,
schools, and other users of power in the presence of intermittency and other distur-
bances. The irregular character of wind direction and power also results in the need
for reliable, steady electric energy by using control systems on the wind turbines
themselves. The goal of these control devices is to reduce the effects of wind inter-
mittency and the effect of wind direction change. Energy storage systems are also
critical technologies for green engineering. We seek energy storage systems that
are renewable, such as fuel cells. Active control can be a key element of effective
renewable energy storage systems as well.

xv
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xvi Preface
Another exciting development for control systems is the evolution of the
Internet of Things—a network of physical objects embedded with electronics,
software, sensors and connectivity. As envisioned, each of the millions of the
devices on the network will possess an embedded computer with connectivity to
the Internet. The ability to control these connected devices will be of great interest
to control engineers. Indeed, control engineering is an exciting and a challenging
field. By its very nature, control engineering is a multidisciplinary subject, and it
has taken its place as a core course in the engineering curriculum. It is reason-
able to expect different approaches to mastering and practicing the art of control
engineering. Since the subject has a strong mathematical foundation, we might
approach it from a strictly theoretical point of view, emphasizing theorems and
proofs. On the other hand, since the ultimate objective is to implement control-
lers in real systems, we might take an ad hoc approach relying only on intuition
and hands-on experience when designing feedback control systems. Our approach
is to present a control engineering methodology that, while based on mathemati-
cal fundamentals, stresses physical system modeling and practical control system
designs with realistic system specifications.
We believe that the most important and productive approach to learning is for
each of us to rediscover and re-create anew the answers and methods of the past.
Thus, the ideal is to present the student with a series of problems and questions and
point to some of the answers that have been obtained over the past decades. The tra-
ditional method—to confront the student not with the problem but with the finished
solution—is to deprive the student of all excitement, to shut off the creative impulse,
to reduce the adventure of humankind to a dusty heap of theorems. The issue, then,
is to present some of the unanswered and important problems that we continue to
confront, for it may be asserted that what we have truly learned and understood, we
discovered ourselves.
The purpose of this book is to present the structure of feedback control theory
and to provide a sequence of exciting discoveries as we proceed through the text and
problems. If this book is able to assist the student in discovering feedback control
system theory and practice, it will have succeeded.

What’S neW in thiS edition

This latest edition of Modern Control Systems incorporates the following key updates:
❏❏ An interactive e-textbook version is now available.
❏❏ Updated companion website www.pearsonhighered.com/dorf for students and faculty.
❏❏ Over 20% of the problems updated or newly added. There are 980 end-of-chapter
exercises, problems, advanced problems, design problems, and computer problems.
Instructors will have no difficulty finding different problems to assign semester after
semester.
❏❏ The design process of lead and lag compensators in Chapter 10 has been updated for
ease of understanding and consistency of nomenclature.
❏❏ The textbook has been streamlined for clarity of presentation.
Preface xvii
the audienCe

This text is designed for an introductory undergraduate course in control systems for
engineering students. There is very little demarcation between the various engineering
areas in control system practice; therefore, this text is written without any conscious
bias toward one discipline. Thus, it is hoped that this book will be equally useful for
all engineering disciplines and, perhaps, will assist in illustrating the utility of con-
trol engineering. The numerous problems and examples represent all fields, and the
examples of the sociological, biological, ecological, and economic control systems are
intended to provide the reader with an awareness of the general applicability of con-
trol theory to many facets of life. We believe that exposing students of one discipline
to examples and problems from other disciplines will provide them with the ability
to see beyond their own field of study. Many students pursue careers in engineering
fields other than their own. We hope this introduction to control engineering will give
students a broader understanding of control system design and analysis.
In its first twelve editions, Modern Control Systems has been used in senior-
level courses for engineering students at many colleges and universities globally. It
also has been used in courses for engineering graduate students with no previous
background in control engineering.

the thirteenth edition

With the thirteenth edition, we have created an interactive e-textbook to fully use rich,
digital content for Modern Control Systems to enhance the learning experience. This
version contains embedded videos, dynamic graphs, live Skills Check quizzes, and
active links to additional resources. The electronic version provides a powerful inter-
active experience that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in a print book.
A companion website is also available to students and faculty using the thirteenth
edition. The website contains many resources, including the m-files in the book,
Laplace and z-transform tables, written materials on matrix algebra and complex
numbers, symbols, units, and conversion factors, and an introduction to MATLAB
and to the LabVIEW MathScript RT Module. An icon will appear in the book mar-
gin whenever there is additional related material on the website. The MCS website
address is www.pearsonhighered.com/dorf.
We continue the design emphasis that historically has characterized Modern
Control Systems. Using the real-world engineering problems associated with
designing a controller for a disk drive read system, we present the Sequential Design
Example, which is considered sequentially in each chapter using the methods and
concepts in that chapter. Disk drives are used in computers of all sizes and they
represent an important application of control engineering. Various aspects of the
design of controllers for the disk drive read system are considered in each chapter.
For example, in Chapter 1 we identify the control goals, identify the variables to
be controlled, write the control specifications, and establish the preliminary system
configuration for the disk drive. Then, in Chapter 2, we obtain models of the
xviii Preface
process, sensors, and actuators. In the remaining chapters, we continue the design
process, stressing the main points of the chapters.

Rotation Spindle
of arm
Disk
Actuator
motor

Track a
Arm
Track b
Head slider

In the same spirit as the Sequential Design Example, we present a design prob-
lem that we call the Continuous Design Problem to give students the opportunity
to build upon a design problem from chapter to chapter. High-precision machinery
places stringent demands on table slide systems. In the Continuous Design Problem,
students apply the techniques and tools presented in each chapter to the develop-
ment of a design solution that meets the specified requirements.

Cutting
tool

Table
x

The computer-aided design and analysis component of the book continues


to evolve and improve. Also, many of the solutions to various components of the
Sequential Design Example utilize m-files with corresponding scripts included in
the figures.
A Skills Check section is included at the end of each chapter. In each Skills
Check section, we provide three sets of problems to test your knowledge of the
chapter material. This includes True of False, Multiple Choice, and Word Match
problems. To obtain direct feedback, you can check your answers with the answer
key provided at the conclusion of the end-of-chapter problems.
Preface xix
Pedagogy

The book is organized around the concepts of control system theory as they have
been developed in the frequency and time domains. An attempt has been made to
make the selection of topics, as well as the systems discussed in the examples and
problems, modern in the best sense. Therefore, this book includes discussions on
robust control systems and system sensitivity, state variable models, controllability
and observability, computer control systems, internal model control, robust PID
controllers, and computer-aided design and analysis, to name a few. However, the
classical topics of control theory that have proved to be so very useful in practice
have been retained and expanded.

Building Basic Principles: From Classical to Modern. Our goal is to present a clear
exposition of the basic principles of frequency and time-domain design techniques.
The classical methods of control engineering are thoroughly covered: Laplace trans-
forms and transfer functions; root locus design; Routh–Hurwitz stability analysis; fre-
quency response methods, including Bode, Nyquist, and Nichols; steady-state error for
standard test signals; second-order system approximations; and phase and gain mar-
gin and bandwidth. In addition, coverage of the state variable method is significant.
Fundamental notions of controllability and observability for state variable models are
discussed. Full state feedback design with Ackermann’s formula for pole placement
is presented, along with a discussion on the limitations of state variable feedback.
Observers are introduced as a means to provide state estimates when the complete
state is not measured.
Upon this strong foundation of basic principles, the book provides many oppor-
tunities to explore topics beyond the traditional. In the latter chapters, we present
introductions into more advanced topics of robust control and digital control, as well
as an entire chapter devoted to the design of feedback control systems with a focus on
practical industrial lead and lag compensator structures. Problem solving is empha-
sized throughout the chapters. Each chapter (but the first) introduces the student to
the notion of computer-aided design and analysis.

Progressive Development of Problem-Solving Skills. Reading the chapters, attend-


ing lectures and taking notes, and working through the illustrated examples are all
part of the learning process. But the real test comes at the end of the chapter with
the problems. The book takes the issue of problem solving seriously. In each chapter,
there are five problem types:
❏❏ Exercises
❏❏ Problems
❏❏ Advanced Problems
❏❏ Design Problems
❏❏ Computer Problems
For example, the problem set for Frequency Response Methods, Chapter 8
includes 15 exercises, 27 problems, 7 advanced problems, 7 design problems, and
xx Preface
9 computer-based problems. The exercises permit the students to readily utilize the
concepts and methods introduced in each chapter by solving relatively straightfor-
ward exercises before attempting the more complex problems. Answers to one-third
of the exercises are provided. The problems require an extension of the concepts of
the chapter to new situations. The advanced problems represent problems of increas-
ing complexity. The design problems emphasize the design task; the computer-based
problems give the student practice with problem solving using computers. In total,
the book contains more than 980 problems. The abundance of problems of increasing
complexity gives students confidence in their problem solving ability as they work
their way from the exercises to the design and computer-based problems. An instruc-
tor’s manual, available to all adopters of the text for course use, contains complete
solutions to all end-of-chapter problems.
A set of m-files, the Modern Control Systems Toolbox, has been developed
by the authors to supplement the text. The m-files contain the scripts from each
computer-based example in the text. You may retrieve the m-files from the compan-
ion website: www.pearsonhighered.com/dorf.

Design Emphasis without Compromising Basic Principles. The all-important topic


of design of real-world, complex control systems is a major theme throughout the
text. Emphasis on design for real-world applications addresses interest in design by
ABET and industry.
The design process consists of seven main building blocks that we arrange into
three groups:
1. Establishment of goals and variables to be controlled, and definition of specifi-
cations (metrics) against which to measure performance
2. System definition and modeling
3. Control system design and integrated system simulation and analysis

In each chapter of this book, we highlight the connection between the design
process and the main topics of that chapter. The objective is to demonstrate differ-
ent aspects of the design process through illustrative examples.
Various aspects of the control system design process are illustrated in detail in
many examples across all the chapters, including applications of control design in
robotics, manufacturing, medicine, and transportation (ground, air, and space).
Each chapter includes a section to assist students in utilizing computer-aided
design and analysis concepts and in reworking many of the design examples.
Generally, m-files scripts are provided that can be used in the design and analyses
of the feedback control systems. Each script is annotated with comment boxes that
highlight important aspects of the script. The accompanying output of the script
(generally a graph) also contains comment boxes pointing out significant elements.
The scripts can also be utilized with modifications as the foundation for solving
other related problems.

Learning Enhancement. Each chapter begins with a chapter preview describing


the topics the student can expect to encounter. The chapters conclude with an
end-of-chapter summary, skills check, as well as terms and concepts. These sections
Preface xxi
In this column remarks
relate the design topics on
the left to specific sections,
figures, equations, and tables
Topics emphasized in this example

}
in the example.

Establish the control goals


Shading indicates the
topics that are emphasized
(1) Establishment of goals,
in each chapter. Some chapters
Identify the variables to be controlled variables to be controlled,
will have many shaded blocks,
and specifications.
and other chapters will emphasize
just one or two topics.
Write the specifications

}
Establish the system configuration
(2) System definition
and modeling.
Obtain a model of the process, the
actuator, and the sensor

}
Describe a controller and select key
parameters to be adjusted
(3) Control system design,
simulation, and analysis.
Optimize the parameters and
analyze the performance

If the performance does not meet the If the performance meets the specifications,
specifications, then iterate the configuration. then finalize the design.

reinforce the important concepts introduced in the chapter and serve as a reference
for later use.
A second color is used to add emphasis when needed and to make the graphs
and figures easier to interpret. For example, consider the computer control of a robot
to spray-paint an automobile. We might ask the student to investigate the closed-
loop system stability for various values of the controller gain K and to determine the
response to a unit step disturbance, Td 1s2 = 1>s , when the input R1s2 = 0. The asso-
ciated figure assists the student with (a) visualizing the problem, and (b) taking the
next step to develop the transfer function model and to complete the analyses.

the organization

Chapter 1 Introduction to Control Systems. Chapter 1 provides an introduction


to the basic history of control theory and practice. The purpose of this chapter is to
describe the general approach to designing and building a control system.
xxii Preface
2.0

1.5 Input

1.0
Output
0.5 ess

u (rad)
0

- 0.5

- 1.0

- 1.5 ess
- 2.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (s)

(a)

%QORWVGVJGTGURQPUGQHVJG/QDKNG4QDQV%QPVTQN
5[UVGOVQCVTKCPIWNCTYCXGKPRWV

PWOI=?FGPI=?U[UIVH PWOIFGPI  G(s)Gc (s)
=U[U?HGGFDCEM U[UI=? 
V=? 
Compute triangular
X=? X=? X=? 
wave input.
W=XXX?
=[6?+UKO U[UWV  Linear simulation.
RNQV 6[VW  
ZNCDGN 6KOG U [NCDGN >VJGVC TCF ITKF

(b)

Chapter 2 Mathematical Models of Systems. Mathematical models of physical


systems in input–output or transfer function form are developed in Chapter 2. A
wide range of systems are considered.

Chapter 3 State Variable Models. Mathematical models of systems in state variable


form are developed in Chapter 3. The transient response of control systems and the
performance of these systems are examined.

Chapter 4 Feedback Control System Characteristics. The characteristics of feedback


control systems are described in Chapter 4. The advantages of feedback are discussed,
and the concept of the system error signal is introduced.

Chapter 5 The Performance of Feedback Control Systems. In Chapter 5, the per-


formance of control systems is examined. The performance of a control system is
correlated with the s-plane location of the poles and zeros of the transfer function of
the system.
Preface xxiii

Line conveyor

Line encoder
Hydraulic motor
Screw

Table encoder Robot and table

Computer
Input

(a)

Td (s)

+
+ 1 1
R(s) K s+5 s+1
Y(s)
+
-

Computer

(b)

Chapter 6 The Stability of Linear Feedback Systems. The stability of feedback sys-
tems is investigated in Chapter 6. The relationship of system stability to the charac-
teristic equation of the system transfer function is studied. The Routh–Hurwitz
stability criterion is introduced.

Chapter 7 The Root Locus Method. Chapter 7 deals with the motion of the roots
of the characteristic equation in the s-plane as one or two parameters are varied.
The locus of roots in the s-plane is determined by a graphical method. We also
introduce the popular PID controller and the Ziegler-Nichols PID tuning method.

Chapter 8 Frequency Response Methods. In Chapter 8, a steady-state sinusoid


input signal is utilized to examine the steady-state response of the system as the fre-
quency of the sinusoid is varied. The development of the frequency response plot,
called the Bode plot, is considered.

Chapter 9 Stability in the Frequency Domain. System stability utilizing frequency


response methods is investigated in Chapter 9. Relative stability and the Nyquist
criterion are discussed. Stability is considered using Nyquist plots, Bode plots, and
Nichols charts.

Chapter 10 The Design of Feedback Control Systems. Several approaches to


designing and compensating a control system are described and developed in
xxiv Preface
Chapter 10. Various candidates for service as compensators are presented and it is
shown how they help to achieve improved performance. The focus is on lead and
lag compensators.

Chapter 11 The Design of State Variable Feedback Systems. The main topic of
Chapter 11 is the design of control systems using state variable models. Full-state
feedback design and observer design methods based on pole placement are discussed.
Tests for controllability and observability are presented, and the concept of an internal
model design is discussed.

Chapter 12 Robust Control Systems. Chapter 12 deals with the design of highly
accurate control systems in the presence of significant uncertainty. Five methods for
robust design are discussed, including root locus, frequency response, ITAE methods
for robust PID controllers, internal models, and pseudo-quantitative feedback.

Chapter 13 Digital Control Systems. Methods for describing and analyzing the
performance of computer control systems are described in Chapter 13. The stability
and performance of sampled-data systems are discussed.

aCknoWledgMentS

We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following individuals who


have assisted us with the development of this thirteenth edition, as well as all
previous editions: Mahmoud A. Abdallah, Central Sate University (OH); John N.
Chiasson, University of Pittsburgh; Samy El-Sawah, California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona; Peter J. Gorder, Kansas State University; Duane Hanselman,
University of Maine; Ashok Iyer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Leslie R.
Koval, University of Missouri-Rolla; L. G. Kraft, University of New Hampshire;
Thomas Kurfess, Georgia Institute of Technology; Julio C. Mandojana, Mankato
State University; Luigi Mariani, University of Padova; Jure Medanic, University
of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign; Eduardo A. Misawa, Oklahoma State Uni-
versity; Medhat M. Morcos, Kansas State University; Mark Nagurka, Marquette
University; D. Subbaram Naidu, Idaho State University; Ron Perez, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Carla Schwartz, The MathWorks, Inc.; Murat Tanyel,
Dordt College; Hal Tharp, University of Arizona; John Valasek, Texas A & M
University; Paul P. Wang, Duke University; and Ravi Warrier, GMI Engineering
and Management Institute. Special thanks to Greg Mason, Seattle University,
and Jonathan Sprinkle, University of Arizona, for developing the interactives
and the video solutions.
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different content
“I’ll tell you all about it, Dick,” he said. “I was hoping I could keep
it from you; but it begins to look as if there were no use in trying to
keep it from any one. The theme that was read in class was Dave
Ives’s, not mine. I took it out of Dave’s room and handed it in as
mine. I changed the last page of it. That was how you happened to
find that page of Dave’s theme in my waste-basket.”
He realized already that Richard’s reaction to the confession was
not at all the same as David’s had been. There was no sign of
compassion in Richard’s face, only distress and even repugnance.
“David knows the whole story,” said Lester. “If you want to, you
can talk it over with him.”
“I don’t see how you came to do it.”
“Pressure of work that had to be made up—no time to write the
theme and it had to be a good one, or else I stayed on probation. I
suppose you’d call it just weak and dishonest—as it was.”
“Well,” said Richard slowly, after a pause, “I can understand why
you shouldn’t care to be elected marshal now.”
Lester made no response, and Richard did not inquire further into
the circumstances of the misdeed or comment on it. After a little
time Richard rose to leave the room.
Lester looked up at him imploringly. “There’s one thing, Dick, that
I wish you’d understand,” he said. “I’m not feeling callous about
this.”
“No,” said Richard gravely, “I suppose not.”
He opened the door and went out. Lester sat gazing into space
with unhappy eyes. He had lost the respect of one whom he liked, of
a friend who had been even a hero worshiper. He deserved to lose it,
he knew, yet he could not help feeling that Richard might have been
less cruel. He wondered how they could go on living together now.
Then he reflected again that he was receiving no more
punishment than he deserved, and that, if he was to win back his
own self-respect, it could be only through hard and honest work. So
he settled down to his studying and put Richard resolutely out of his
mind.
Meanwhile Richard had accepted Lester’s suggestion and had
gone to hear David’s version of the story. Yet, although David made
all the excuses for Lester’s action that were possible and enlarged
upon his penitence, Richard’s condemnation remained unqualified.
There was in him an inherited strain of inflexibility in judging
deviations from standards of integrity and truth.
“He simply did a thing that an honorable fellow wouldn’t have
done,” insisted Richard. “And then he lied about it. He didn’t own up
to it until he was cornered and couldn’t lie any longer. I don’t doubt
that he’s sorry and all that; but when you can’t respect a fellow any
more, what are you to do?”
“I don’t go so far as that,” said David. “He’s making a fight now to
win back his own self-respect and my respect and yours. Give the
boy a chance.”
“What chance has he? I don’t see any.”
“Well, if he keeps up the pace in studies that he’s been setting for
himself, cuts out for good the idleness and loafing that were
responsible for his getting into trouble, shows he isn’t seeking
popularity any more and doesn’t care anything about it—I should
think then you could begin to respect him again.”
“It would help,” admitted Richard. “Though hard work can’t
exactly cancel a dishonorable act.”
“Friendship might help it to,” said David.
Richard pondered, frowning. “I’m not sure that it isn’t my duty to
do everything I can to keep him from being elected marshal.”
“If you feel a real call to duty, go to it,” said David with mild irony.
“You’re a true son of the Puritans, Dick.”
“You can scoff if you want to. But here you and I have been doing
all that we could to get Lester elected first marshal, and now we find
that he’s unfit to have the honor. You’ll agree to that, I suppose?”
David hesitated. “I don’t know that I’d say he was unfit.”
“You don’t mean that you’ll still vote for him?”
“I’m not sure that I shan’t.”
“You mean to say you may vote to give the highest honor in the
class to the one man in the class who you know has done a
dishonorable thing?”
“I haven’t fully decided. He’s the most brilliant athlete we’ve got,
he’s the most popular fellow generally, and he’s my oldest friend.”
“If he’s elected, an injustice is done to Farrar or Colby, either of
whom would be chosen in preference if the truth were known.”
“It won’t be a very serious injustice. Farrar’s had the captaincy of
the football team, Colby’s had the captaincy of the crew; Lester’s
never had anything, though he has contributed more to our athletic
success than any other fellow in college.”
“I don’t know whether you’re too lax in your ideas, or whether I’m
too stiff in mine,” said Richard after a moment, “but certainly one of
us must be wrong.”
“My idea simply is: he’s a friend, he feels badly, he’s filled with
remorse—treat him with consideration.”
“Mine is that friendship shouldn’t blind us to his acts or cause us
to inflict injustice upon another.”
“What would you do to prevent what you call injustice?” asked
David. “Would you go about telling everybody to vote for Farrar
because you had discovered something that, if it were generally
known, would make Lester ineligible?”
“That’s the trouble; I don’t know just what I ought to do. If
anybody asks me, I’ll say that I’m not supporting Lester, and that I
can’t advise any one else to. Then of course I’ll be asked why, and I
shall simply have to say that I can’t tell, but that I have good
reasons. Perhaps that isn’t going far enough. Perhaps I ought to go
round and see all the fellows that I’ve called on in Lester’s interest
and tell them that in my judgment it’s all off.”
“If you do either of those things,” declared David, “you’ll start a lot
of gossip. If you can’t conscientiously vote for Lester, don’t; that’s all
right. But don’t go round trying to influence people to vote against
him. You’ll only blow up a scandal that won’t do any one any good.”
“I don’t see exactly how.”
“Why, some of Lester’s friends will be indignant and will demand
that you tell what you know or else keep quiet. You’ll be driven to
hinting and finally to telling. And I must say I think that it would be
a great misfortune, not only to Lester, but to the class, to have
publicity given to this matter.”
“Yes, but on the other hand is it fair to keep quiet and perhaps let
Lester have the honor that some one else deserves?”
“That seems to me of small importance. If it isn’t Lester, it will be
Farrar or Colby. They’ve had pretty much all the recognition they
need—captain of the eleven and captain of the crew; they’ll be
second and third marshals, anyway. I shouldn’t worry about them.”
“Lester can’t enjoy it very much if he’s elected.”
“He certainly can’t. He doesn’t want to be elected. But I don’t feel
called upon to protect him from it.”
“I still can’t see how or why he ever came to do it,” said Richard.
“No, but I feel sure he’ll never do anything crooked again. Don’t
make him feel he’s a leper, Dick. Give him another chance.”
“You mean treat him just as if nothing had happened? I can’t.
Something inside me won’t let me.”
“How are you going to treat him, then?”
“I don’t know, except that I can’t be on such easy terms with him
any more. This thing has spoiled him for me.”
“I don’t believe one act changes a fellow all over. You’ve known
Lester pretty intimately and have always liked him and even admired
him. This thing that he’s done isn’t characteristic of him, I feel sure.”
“Don’t you suppose there are lots of men in prison for doing
things that aren’t really characteristic of them? It’s the act itself—the
kind of act that it was—that a fellow can’t overlook.”
“I’m sorry you feel as you do.”
“So am I. But I can’t help it.”
When Richard returned to his room, Lester was writing and did
not look up. Richard settled himself in a chair and began to read.
The silence to which the two thus committed themselves became
characteristic now of their relations. They did not actually cease to
be on speaking terms with each other, but they addressed each
other as seldom as possible. Lester no longer availed himself of what
had been a standing invitation to dine on Sunday at Richard’s house
in Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley and Marion asked Richard why
Lester had dropped them, and Richard replied that he guessed that
wasn’t it, but that Lester had given up going out anywhere to dine
with people. The family looked mystified, but for the time being did
not pursue the inquiry.
On the day of the senior-class elections Lester was greeted with
friendly smiles from numerous classmates as he walked from his
room to the voting place.
“It’s a sure thing for you,” said one who came out of the building
as Lester entered.
“It shouldn’t be,” Lester answered. His friend laughed, not taking
the remark seriously.
The ballots were counted that evening. Lester and Richard were
as usual silently engaged with their books when there was a
tumultuous rush up the stairs and a banging on the door. Lester
opened the door; instantly half a dozen joyous youths seized upon
him, grasped his hands, beat him on the back and poured out the
good news.
“You got it all right.”
“You beat Farrar by a hundred votes.”
“You beat Colby by a hundred and fifty.”
“Well, old top, how does it feel to be marshal?”
Lester showed his embarrassment. “It’s mighty good of you
fellows to come and tell me,” he said. “But I don’t deserve to be
marshal at all.”
“Oh, that’s the way they always talk,” replied Joe Bingham. “We
know better than you do whether you deserve it or not.”
“No, you don’t. You ask my roommate here; he knows me better
than any one else.”
Lester spoke on a sudden wild inspiration. If he were given a
chance, he would tell the crowd, resign, let Farrar have the place to
which he was entitled—
“No, he doesn’t deserve it,” said Richard quietly. “I didn’t vote for
him.”
The fellows laughed; they took Richard’s remark as a joke. They
stayed a few moments longer, holding a jubilation over their friend’s
success, and then clattered noisily down the stairs.
A few moments later another caller appeared to offer his
congratulations. It was Farrar, who had just been elected second
marshal. He was a square-set, stocky fellow, with a good deal of
force showing in his face; he was not handsome; he was blunt and
downright of manner. Although through their prominence in athletics
he and Lester had been brought into close association with each
other throughout their college course, they had never been
particularly friendly or sympathetic.
When Lester saw who his visitor was he stood up; he felt his face
growing hot. Richard swung round in his chair and looked on; the
realization that he was interested heightened Lester’s
embarrassment.
“I want to congratulate you,” said Farrar, taking Lester’s hand. “I
want to be among the first.”
“Thank you,” said Lester. “It ought really to have been you, Jim.”
“No, it oughtn’t. I won’t say that I’m not disappointed; of course
any fellow who felt that he stood some show of winning such an
honor can’t help being disappointed a little. But the best man won.”
“No,” said Lester slowly, “that’s just what he didn’t do.”
“Oh, yes, he did. I mightn’t have admitted it a month or two ago;
I’d have been likely to say to myself then that you won by making
up to fellows for their votes. But you didn’t win that way; you won
on your record fair and square. And I don’t feel half so disappointed
as I would have felt if you’d got it by electioneering instead of by
just plugging away at your job and letting your record speak for you.
That’s why I say the best man won and the class is to be
congratulated.”
He gave Lester’s hand another firm squeeze. After he had gone,
Lester sat down again at his desk.
“I suppose you find it very entertaining,” he said to his roommate.
“I find it painful,” Richard replied frankly. “The next person that
comes in—I’m going to get out.”
It was but a few moments before another congratulatory friend
arrived, and Richard, true to his word, took his departure. He stayed
away from the room all the rest of the evening; and meanwhile
Lester received a succession of visitors, among them Colby, the third
marshal—all generously come to express their satisfaction at his
success.
At ten o’clock, in order to protect himself against a prolongation of
the ordeal, he turned out the light, undressed in the dark, and went
to bed. He lay awake for a long time; he heard Richard come in and
go to bed, and he wished that he had never seen Richard. At last an
idea that gave him some comfort came to him, and while he was
turning it over in his mind he fell asleep.
David had not been among those who had rushed to give Lester
their congratulations. He had felt that if Richard were in the room it
would be awkward for both Lester and himself. But the next morning
he left his door open while he dressed and so caught sight of Lester
descending the stairs. He hailed and halted him, and then he said:
“Even though I didn’t come to see you last night, Lester, I want you
to know that I’m glad you got it. I voted for you.”
Lester’s smile, even though forlorn, showed his gratitude. “I don’t
see how you can reconcile it with your conscience,” he said. “But I
shan’t worry about yours; I’m having trouble enough with my own.
Do you suppose if I went round to your house some time to-day I
could see Mr. Dean?”
David looked astonished. “Yes, I’m sure you could. Almost any
time. He’s always at home.”
“Then I’ll call on him some time this afternoon.”
“He’ll be glad to see you,” said David.
That afternoon, when Lester called and asked for Mr. Dean, he
was shown into the library.
Presently Mr. Dean appeared at the doorway, unpiloted. “Hello,
Lester,” he said, advancing slowly. “I know where everything is in
this room except you.”
“Right here,” said Lester, taking Mr. Dean’s hand.
“It’s very good of you to think of coming to see me. Have a chair.”
Mr. Dean seated himself on the sofa. “I understand that you have
achieved high honor. That’s fine—fine.”
“I don’t think it’s so fine,” said Lester. “It’s about that I wanted to
talk with you—if you’ll be good enough to let me.”
“Of course. What’s the trouble?”
“I feel especially ashamed to come to you about it, and yet in
another way it seems as if for that reason I should—you have more
knowledge of what I’m like, and I think you’ll understand better,”
Lester said awkwardly; he found it hard to make a beginning. The
dark glasses gave to Mr. Dean’s face an inscrutable expression that
was not helpful. “That mean and dishonest thing I did to you at St.
Timothy’s—cribbing my Latin every day in class when you weren’t
able to see.”
Mr. Dean made a gesture, impatient, deprecating. “That’s all
forgotten, Lester,” he said gravely.
“But something’s happened that makes it necessary to recall it.”
Lester leaned forward and twined his fingers together and looked at
the floor; he was as uncomfortable as if the eyes that seemed to be
gazing at him could really see. “I’ve done the same kind of thing
again—only worse, much worse.”
Then awkwardly, haltingly, he told the story.
“Of course I see now what I should have done,” he said in
conclusion. “I ought to have insisted that my name shouldn’t be
voted on—I ought to have withdrawn it—even if it meant telling
people why. David’s almost too good a friend; he’s so kind and
sympathetic; he didn’t want me to do that. And I was too willing to
see things as he saw them.”
“Perhaps,” assented Mr. Dean, “and perhaps David gave you
wrong advice. But somehow I should have been sorry if David had
talked or acted in any other way. If I had been in David’s place, I
hope that I should have done as he did.”
“But I can’t bear it now,” cried Lester. “Farrar’s coming to
congratulate me because the best man won—and his admitting he
was disappointed because he didn’t win! I tried to cheat you in that
Latin class, I cheated David out of his theme, and I cheated the
professor I handed the theme to, I’ve cheated Farrar out of the
honor he deserved—but I’m not going to—I’m not going to! I want
you to stiffen my backbone for me, Mr. Dean!”
“Why, my boy,” said Mr. Dean, much affected by the emotion in
Lester’s voice, “I don’t believe it needs any stiffening from me.”
“Oh, it does. I’m weak, but I am going to try never to be so weak
again. And I want to make things right with Farrar. Don’t you think I
ought to? Don’t you think I ought to resign and make the class have
a new election in which my name shouldn’t be considered?”
“I think,” said Mr. Dean, “that you ought to do the thing that will
best satisfy your own conscience. Yes, I think that in the
circumstances you ought to resign.”
“That, I know, is the way my roommate feels about it. Do you
think that in resigning I ought to tell why?”
“I should think that might not be necessary; it may be enough if
you merely say that for certain definite reasons you are not entitled
to the honor and that you wish to resign in favor of a man who is
entitled to it. Of course you may be pressed to give the reasons. If
you are, you will have to decide, I think, whether to tell the whole
story or not.”
“I know I’m a coward; I hope it won’t be necessary.”
“I hope it won’t be,” replied Mr. Dean gravely. Then after a
moment he said: “Do you feel under any obligation to say anything
about the matter to Professor Worthington?”
“Oh!” said Lester. “To tell the truth, I hadn’t once thought about
that.”
“Of course, as things stand, you’re receiving credit for work that
you didn’t do, and David is not receiving credit for work that he did.
Not that David cares, I imagine. To make a clean breast of the affair
to a member of the faculty might result in your being severely
disciplined; it might have serious consequences for you.”
“Yes,” Lester said; “I suppose that at the least I should be put on
probation.”
“To avoid which you did the thing that caused all the trouble.”
Lester hesitated a moment; then he said: “I guess I’d better take
my medicine. I’ll go and see Professor Worthington.” He rose.
“You’ve been a great help to me, Mr. Dean. You’ve helped me to see
things straight. I think it must be fine for David—having you at hand
to turn to. Not that he needs such help as I do.”
“We can all of us help somebody else at some time or other,”
replied Mr. Dean. “Do you ever go up to St. Timothy’s, Lester?”
“I haven’t been there for some time.”
“Take a Sunday off and run up there. It does every one good to
revisit old scenes and see old friends.”
“I should like to go after I’ve squared accounts with myself.
Nothing will do me good until then.”
Mr. Dean stood up; his groping hands found Lester’s shoulders.
“Not until we find out how weak we are do we know what we must
do to become strong,” he said. “You’ve found out; you’ve begun to
build yourself up. I’d trust you anywhere now, Lester, at any time.”
CHAPTER XVIII
RELINQUISHMENT

L ester walked with rapid steps to the house of Professor


Worthington. Now that he had decided what to do he was in
haste to get it done. He found Professor Worthington at home and
within a few moments had made a complete confession.
“I shouldn’t have expected such a thing as that from a man of
your caliber,” said Professor Worthington. “You’ve just been elected
first marshal of your class, haven’t you?”
“Yes, sir. I’m going to resign.”
“On account of this thing?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do many members of the class know what you did?”
“Two. David Ives and my roommate.”
“Are they likely to tell any one else?”
“No, sir. They wouldn’t tell.”
“Do they think you ought to resign?”
“One does, and the other doesn’t.”
“Did they advise you to come to me?”
“No, sir. But Mr. Dean, who used to be a master at St. Timothy’s,
where I went to school, advised me.”
“How did he happen to know the facts?”
“I told him. I felt I needed advice as to what to do.”
“I am satisfied,” said Professor Worthington. “I shan’t do anything
about the matter; or rather the only thing I shall do will be to raise
Ives’s marks. You’ve done excellent work in the course since the
thing happened, and I am simply going to forget what you’ve told
me.”
He showed his friendliness by walking arm in arm with Lester to
the door when Lester, after murmuring his gratitude, rose to go.
Lester felt that now he could face the final ordeal with
cheerfulness. He went directly to the room of Tom McKee, the
president of the senior class, and found him tipped back in his chair,
with his feet on his desk and a volume on economics open against
his knees.
“Tom,” he said, “I want you to call a meeting of the class for to-
morrow night. Get the notice of it in to-morrow morning’s Crimson.
It’s on a matter of importance.”
“Sure,” said Tom. “The first marshal’s word is law. What’s up?”
“I can’t tell you now. But you’ll see that the notice goes in, won’t
you? And make it urgent; we want everybody to come.”
McKee reached for a pad and a pencil and wrote out the following:

Seniors! Important meeting at Harvard Union at


eight o’clock this evening. Very urgent. Everybody
come.
T. McKee,
President.

“How’s that?” he asked.


“Fine. And tell the fellows that you see, so that they’ll talk it up.”
“Anything that you want me to do at the meeting?”
“Just call it to order and let me have the floor, if you will.”
“All right; that’s easy. I’ll make sure that we can have the
assembly room at the Union, and then I’ll turn this notice in at the
Crimson office. I’m glad you don’t want me to make a speech.”
“I wish I didn’t have to make one,” said Lester.
That evening the members of the senior class crowded into the
assembly room; they filled the benches; they sat on the radiators;
they stood against the walls and in the doorway. The notice of the
meeting had excited curiosity, which had become increasingly keen
since it appeared that no one knew why the meeting had been
called. During the preliminary noise, the scraping of chairs and
benches on the floor, the thumping and scuffling of feet, and the
loud buzz of conversation, Lester sat on a bench immediately in
front of the platform, silent, unresponsive to those near him.
McKee mounted the platform and stood behind the chairman’s
table. He rapped on the table; he raised his voice; gradually the
crowd became silent.
“The meeting will please come to order,” shouted McKee. “I have
called this meeting at the request of our first marshal, and I will ask
Mr. Lester Wallace to state what is in his mind.”
Amid enthusiastic applause Lester rose. This was the first
opportunity that the class as a whole had had to show its
satisfaction at the outcome of the election. The applause swelled,
slackened, and swelled again; it continued and continued while
Lester, white and unsmiling, waited for a chance to speak. At last
there was quiet, and he began in a voice that shook a little:
“Fellows, I wanted you all to be here—”
“Louder!” came a shout from the back of the room.
“Get up on the platform!” cried another voice.
“Yes! Platform!” shouted others.
Lester obeyed the command; he stepped up on the platform and
took his stand beside the chairman’s table. “Fellows,” he said, “ever
since the election I’ve been very uncomfortable in my mind. I’ve
known that I’m not fit to be first marshal or to hold any office in the
class.”
A cry of derision and protest went up from the audience.
“I’m in earnest about this,” Lester continued when he was able to
make himself heard. “There isn’t one of you that would have voted
for me if he’d known what I know about myself.”
“We’re all miserable sinners,” cried a cheerful voice; and the crowd
broke into laughter that kept renewing itself irrepressibly just as
quiet seemed about to be restored.
Lester stood perplexed; that his tragic speech should be greeted
with laughter was a thing for which he was quite unprepared. “I
ought to have withdrawn my name instead of allowing it to be voted
on,” he said, and again he was interrupted.
“Sit down!” shouted some one.
“Forget it!” cried another.
And both outcries brought great demonstrations of approval from
the audience.
“I’m not going to sit down, and I can’t forget it,” Lester said with a
flash of spirit. “I wish I could. I’m here to tender my resignation as
first marshal, and I hope you will accept it unanimously.”
“Why?” shouted several voices.
“Because I’ve done a thing that makes me unfit to hold any
position of honor or trust in the class,” said Lester firmly.
“What was it?” demanded some one.
Then there was a hush. Lester looked out over the audience; his
face was pale. “I stole a fellow’s theme and passed it in as my own,”
he said. “I’m through. Elect some one else.” He stepped down from
the platform and took his seat while his classmates sat in silence.
In the middle of the hall Farrar rose. “Mr. President!” he said.
Farrar had a big voice of great carrying power; moreover, his manner
was forcible and decisive.
“Mr. Farrar has the floor,” announced McKee.
“I wish to say I respect Lester Wallace for his courage,” said
Farrar. “And I move that his resignation be not accepted. We can
afford to overlook this slip of his that he’s told us about. He was the
choice of the class, for first marshal, and I don’t believe that any one
here is going to feel that the choice was a mistaken one. I move that
his resignation be not accepted.”
“Second the motion!” shouted some one amidst a great burst of
applause.
Then Robert McClure, who had been an active supporter of Farrar,
stood up. “Mr. President,” he said. “I think that this question is one
that shouldn’t be decided hastily. I think we ought to have more
information before we come to a decision. We don’t know anything
about the circumstances in regard to this theme that Mr. Wallace has
mentioned. I hope we may have some further information. And,
anyway, I think we ought to hold a new election. We want to settle
this matter with common sense and deliberate judgment, not with
snap judgment and emotion.”
Lester again rose and faced the audience. “I will give you all the
information I can. I was in trouble with the college office; I was
trying to make up work in other courses, and I neglected my work in
the composition course. A theme was due, and I hadn’t written it. I
knew that if I didn’t hand it in, I should be put on probation. I took a
friend’s theme without his knowledge and handed it in as mine.
That’s the whole story. I want to say that, much as I appreciate Mr.
Farrar’s remarks, Mr. McClure is absolutely right. I have resigned as
first marshal, and the class will have to hold another election.” He
sat down, and again there was silence.
McKee, the president of the class, rose. “We all regret very much
the action that it seems necessary to take,” he said. “I will appoint,
as a committee to arrange for a new election of class officers, Mr.
McClure, Mr. Ives, and Mr. Roberts; and I will ask them to publish as
soon as possible the announcement of such arrangements as they
may make. The meeting is adjourned.”
McKee leaped from the platform and seized Lester’s hands. “That
took courage, old man,” he said. “I hope they reëlect you just the
same; but if they don’t, remember this: there are a lot of us that
stand by you.”
“Thank you, Tom.” Lester found now that he could not speak; and
there were other fellows crowding round him with assurances of
their unshaken faith. He got away from the throng as soon as he
could and went to his room.
Richard Bradley arrived a moment later; he came at once to Lester
and seated himself on the arm of his chair. “I’m sorry I’ve been so
mean to you, Lester,” he said.
“You haven’t been mean; you’ve been just right,” Lester answered.
“And I’m glad now that every one knows. It makes me ashamed, but
somehow it’s a relief. I hope you’ll think better of me sometime,
Dick.”
“I think better of you now,” Richard said. “And I can tell you one
thing, Lester; whether you’re elected marshal or not, you haven’t
lost a single friend.”
Nevertheless, the ordeal through which Lester now had to pass
was humiliating to one who had never been distinguished for the
virtue of humility. He felt that wherever he went he left a trail of
gossipers behind him. He knew that his fall from grace was the
subject of discussion wherever two or three seniors were gathered.
The committee appointed by McKee issued a notice that the
election would be held on a certain day; and in the interval before
that day debate as to Lester’s availability went on almost without
ceasing. David Ives and Richard Bradley declared that atonement
washed away sin; they pleaded that Lester should be triumphantly
reëlected first marshal—with an even larger majority than before, if
possible; they pointed out that by thus honoring him the class would
be recognizing not merely the athlete and popular hero, but also a
fellow who had shown moral courage of a high sort. The argument
was attacked; the exact details and circumstances of Lester’s crime
were inquired into and brought to light. The investigators declined to
exonerate him because of a belated confession. Why, they asked,
should a fellow who had done a thing of which he finally had the
grace to be ashamed be preferred over fellows who had never
stooped to a dishonorable action.
The election was held. Farrar was chosen first marshal, Colby
second, and McKee third. Lester received thirty votes out of four
hundred and forty.
The election, the resignation, and the new election were not
events that could escape publicity. The college newspaper contained
accounts that hinted at the facts without actually giving them. Lester
knew that the story would go everywhere; he wrote a detailed
narrative and sent it to his father. The letter that he received in reply
made him think that his family, who were those most cruelly hurt by
the act, would be the last to forgive. The letter closed with the
words: “Your mother and I had been planning to come on for your
graduation. I don’t think now that we can bring ourselves to do it.”
There was another letter that Lester wrote, as bulky and explicit
as that which he had sent to his father. It went to Ruth Davenport,
at St. Timothy’s. Her reply showed a more forgiving heart; and the
correspondence that followed was a thing that helped Lester in a
dark time.
The other thing that helped him was his newfound earnestness in
study. In former days he had given the greater part of his time to
the pursuit of amusement; now during the winter months virtually
the only recreation that he permitted himself was reading. When
spring came he went out again for baseball; and, playing first base
on the university nine, he showed more zest in the practice than he
had ever exhibited before. His experiences and the reflections to
which they had given rise had in a few months matured him. Some
of the fellows on the nine came to look to him rather than to the
captain for leadership; and he was tactful in contributing to the
general efficiency of the team without infringing on the captain’s
prerogative. He enjoyed playing baseball, and this year he played it
with something more than enjoyment. To help the nine to win
seemed to him his special responsibility; it would be part of his
atonement.
He adopted Mr. Dean’s suggestion and went up to St. Timothy’s
School for a Sunday. Revisiting the place had such charms for him
that soon afterwards he proposed to David that they make a trip to
it together.
“Fine idea,” said David. “I’ve been more or less neglecting Ralph.
It’s time I was seeing what the kid is up to.”
One of the things that Ralph was most astonishingly “up to” was
art. With embarrassment and blushes he brought out a large
portfolio filled with drawings, which he exhibited to his brother.
David examined them with increasing respect. He knew just enough
about the fine arts to know that for a schoolboy the sketches were
extremely good. There were pictures of school scenes, of the pond
with the crews on it, and of various masters; there was a sketch of
Ruth Davenport, at which David looked with special interest.
“That’s a mighty good likeness,” he said. “You’ve improved a lot
over the little kid sketches you used to make. Has anybody been
teaching you?”
“No.” Ralph looked at his brother hopefully, shyly; and then said,
“I want to be an artist, Dave.”
“When did that idea come over you?”
“I don’t know exactly. This year. I know that it’s the one thing I
want to do.”
“You’ll have to talk it over with Mr. Dean. Pity he can’t see your
work and judge for himself.”
“Yes. But if I were to take lessons this summer, and the teacher
thought it worth while for me to go on—”
“You wouldn’t want to give up going to Harvard, would you, in
order to start right in and study art?”
“I’d give up anything!” Ralph’s eyes flashed; David was amazed at
the glint through their softness. “I should like to go to Harvard, of
course, but if it’s wise for me to go to an art school instead, I
shouldn’t hesitate. Not for a minute.”
“Did you get Ruth to sit for that portrait?”
“Yes. No; that is, she asked me to do a sketch of her. Tom
Windsor had been telling her about some drawings I’d made of
fellows, and she gave me this chance.”
David looked at the picture again admiringly. Though Ralph was
just a boy, he had somehow caught the whimsical, appealing
expression that played about Ruth’s lips and the merry look of her
eyes.
“That’s all I’ve got to show you,” Ralph said and began to put
away his work. “It’s too fine a day to sit indoors.”
They went for a walk past the old mill and then out to the wood
road that led to the lake. It was a warm and sunny afternoon in
June, with a light wind that set the long grass of the meadows
streaming, the gold of the dandelions glittering, and the tender
green leaves of the young birches dancing; in the meadows chirped
robin and blackbird; among the birches and the pine trees song
sparrows and thrushes were singing; down through the forest,
melody and sunlight showered together, and the ground exhaled the
fragrance of moss and fern and violet—all the moist odors of the
spring.
There was the flash of a bird overhead across the shadowed path,
and then from a copse near by came a plaintive fluting call.
“A veery,” said Ralph.
“Well!” exclaimed David, “I don’t know a veery from a vireo. And
you didn’t either a year ago.”
“I’ve got interested in birds this spring. Tom Windsor is a shark on
them, and so is Mr. Randolph. I’ve gone out with them a good deal.
Anything that has color I like to know about and watch.”
David was silent, marveling at his ignorance of his own brother, his
ignorance of the developing and unfolding that had been taking
place in the boy. No longer was Ralph just an unformed human
being of obvious impulses. What reserves of feeling and
determination and thought had been assembling in him during this
year in which he had assumed both a new gentleness and a new
harness? David felt a new sense of respect for his brother, and also
and rather sadly he felt more remote from him.
Trying to read his brother, he kept glancing at him while they
walked quietly along the grassy wood road. Suddenly Ralph stopped;
David, following the direction of his gaze, saw seated on a knoll
under some pine trees a little way ahead a man and a girl; the man’s
arm was round the girl’s waist, and their heads were close together.
Their faces were not visible; but the white hat with the cherry-
colored ribbon and the white dress with the cherry-colored sash
made David know that the girl was Ruth, and the man he recognized
as Lester.
Noiselessly and without looking behind them, Ralph and David
retraced their steps. Neither of them spoke for some time.
“You won’t tell any one,” David said.
“No, of course not.” Ralph’s tone was indignant. Then the
schoolboy in him found expression. “Blatch and Manners will be all
broken up. I bet they soak it to the fellows in Latin and mathematics
when they learn. They’ll just have to take it out on somebody.”
“You don’t sound very sympathetic with them.”
“Well, it seems ridiculous to think of them or anybody else
imagining that they had a chance when there was Wallace!”
“Yes,” said David, “it does seem ridiculous.”
He spoke gayly, and in truth there was nothing but unselfish
gladness in his heart. A year ago such a discovery as he had just
made might have occasioned other emotions. But it was all right
now; it was all just as it should be. Lester was a mighty lucky fellow,
and when you came right down to it, David loyally added, Ruth
Davenport was a mighty lucky girl.
CHAPTER XIX
ATTAINMENT

T he afternoon of Class Day was bright and sunny; the curve of the
Stadium, banked with spectators, mostly feminine, glowed and
sparkled while the seniors, in academic cap and gown, marched
behind their spirited brass band into the arena. Seating themselves
upon the grass, they formed a somber center for a setting so gay
and flashing; yet the jewel, if so the composite mass might be
designated, was not without its sparkle. For the class humorist,
Harry Carson, mounted the platform and, standing against a screen
of greenery that had been erected for the occasion, delivered his
address. David was sure that no other Ivy orator had ever been so
witty or so brilliant or had ever drawn such frequent bursts of
laughter from an audience. He gave his ears to the speakers, but his
eyes to his mother and Katharine Vance, who were sitting together
in one of the lower tiers of seats. He was eager to see how they
were responding to Harry Carson’s humor—eager to see them
laughing at the jokes. Or perhaps it would be truer to say that he
was eager to see Katharine laughing and amused. She did not
disappoint his glances; her sense of humor was sympathetic with
his, and she had a sufficient knowledge of college matters to
appreciate some of the orator’s remarks that left Mrs. Ives, who was
less well informed, looking bewildered. David was finding in those
days that the best enjoyment of all lay in seeing the person for
whom he cared enjoying the things that he enjoyed.
After the Ivy orator had finished, Jim Farrar, the first marshal, led
the cheering—for the president of the university, for the faculty, for
the football team, the crew, the nine. Lester Wallace was in New
Haven with the nine, battling against Yale at that very hour. The last
and most appreciated cheer was for the ladies; when the applause
occasioned by it had died away, the band struck up “Fair Harvard,”
and the spectators rose and joined with seniors and graduates in the
singing. Then, while the band played a lively air, the seniors marched
out along the track directly beneath the lowest tier of seats; and
while they marched they were pelted with bright-colored streamers
and with showers of confetti; they were pelted, and they returned
the pelting; back and forth flew the light missiles, weaving gay
patterns in the air. David waved to Katharine Vance; her eyes flashed
a merry greeting in reply; then she flung a small paper bomb at his
head. David caught it and threw it back; it struck the brim of her hat
and burst into a shower of bright fragments. Then a streamer tossed
from some other hand entwined itself round David’s neck and
another bomb caught him in the ear and exploded satisfactorily; he
passed on, fishing with one finger for the scraps of paper that were
working down inside his collar.
At the exit David fell out of line and stood for a while looking on at
the lively scene. The graduates marched by in the order of their
classes, pelting and being pelted; shrieks rose from ladies who were
unable to dodge the soft missiles; triumphant shouts and laughter
came from those who scored or suffered hits; arms waved, heads
and hats ducked and bobbed, colored streamers fluttered and
floated and flashed; and the brass band receded into the distance,
with the black-gowned seniors marching behind it.
David made his way up into the section in which his mother and
Katharine were stationed. He stood with them and watched the final
exchanges between the spectators and the last stragglers among the
graduates.
“I don’t think any of them look as nice as this year’s graduating
class,” said Katharine.
“And I’m sure that none of them ever had such nice people to see
them graduate,” said David.
Katharine, with her gay laugh, and Mrs. Ives, with her quiet smile,
were equally pleased.
“I suppose some time, David, you’ll get over making such polite
and flattering remarks to me,” said Katharine.
David affected surprise. “Why, what was there in that remark that
you could take personally?”
“Oh, I wish I had a real bomb to burst on you!” exclaimed
Katharine.
“Then I should not be able to take you to the festivities this
evening,” said David. “I suppose that now we might as well be on
our way.”
At Harvard Square Mrs. Ives left them and went home; the
festivities, she said with a laugh, were not for her. Katharine and
David stopped in front of the bulletin that announced the victory of
Harvard over Yale in baseball by the score of 5 to 3.
“Isn’t that great!” said David. “Now to-morrow we’ll surely win on
our own grounds. I wonder what Lester did.”
“Sometimes you make me almost jealous of Lester,” said
Katharine. “I almost think you like him more than you do me.”
“I like him a lot,” replied David. “But not more than I do you.”
The “spread” to which David conducted Katharine was one of
numerous “spreads,” as they were called, at which members of the
graduating class entertained their relatives and friends. This
particular one was held on the lawn adjoining a dormitory; small
tables were set out on the grass; in a tent at one side there was
dancing; electric lights in Chinese lanterns that were strung
overhead illuminated the scene when twilight fell. Katharine and
David and Richard and Marion Bradley seized upon a table and
refreshed themselves with lobster-Newburg, strawberries and ice
cream; then they strolled about among the tables, greeting friends
and being introduced to friends of friends. Romance was in the air;
several engagements that had been announced that day were a
topic of conversation, particularly as the seniors who had thus
plighted themselves and the girls to whom they were plighted were
present and were receiving congratulations and undergoing
inspection. It was impossible for Katharine and David to remain
unaffected by such an atmosphere.
“Don’t I wish we were announcing our engagement, too!”
murmured David to her in one of the moments when they had the
table to themselves.
“But you know we’ve talked it all over, David. And with four years
in the medical school ahead of you—it would be foolish, wouldn’t it?”
Katharine’s voice was a little wistful; it betrayed a desire to be
overruled.
“Then let’s do something foolish,” said David earnestly. “I know
there’s nothing that can change my feeling about you in four years,
or in forty. Our families know how we feel about each other; they’re
satisfied. What’s the use of pretending we’re not engaged, when we
are? Let’s have the fun of it to-night.”
“Goodness!” said Katharine. “It awes me awfully. But—all right.
How do we begin?”
“Let’s begin with Richard and Marion,” said David. “Here they
come now, back from dancing.”
“Shall we, really?”
“Yes. Be a sport.”
When Richard came up he asked, “Why aren’t you two dancing?
Have a turn with me, Katharine.”
“She’s got something to tell you first,” said David.
“You needn’t put it all on me,” said Katharine. “You can tell
Richard. Marion, I know you’ll be glad to hear that David and I are
announcing our engagement.”
Marion looked for an instant startled and uncertain, and for the
same instant her brother stood gaping. Then she exclaimed,
“Katharine dear, it’s true, isn’t it!” and flung her arms about her
friend’s neck.
Richard seized David’s hand, crying, “Bully for you, Dave!” and
with the other hand grasped Tom Anderson, who happened to be
strolling by. “Here Tom, what do you think of this? New engagement,
just out!” And before the astonished and somewhat embarrassed
Tom had finished congratulating the pair, Richard had hailed other
friends; and presently Katharine and David were the center of more
attention than in their rashness they had bargained for.
Later they slipped away from the spread and went into the College
Yard. There they heard the glee club sing and walked under the
Chinese lanterns that were swung among the trees, and stood by
the fountain that played and plashed and shone in the soft light.
“I’ve come to every class day since I’ve been in college,” said
David. “But it’s more like fairyland to me to-night than it’s ever been
before.”
“For me, too, David,” said Katharine in a low voice.
It was late that evening when David arrived at his room in the
dormitory. He had begun to undress when there came a knock on
the door, and Lester entered. He was looking very happy.
David hailed him jovially. “Tell me, Lester, what did you do? Crack
out a couple of home runs, or something like that?”
“No; I only got a double.”
“How many on bases?”
“Two.”
“So you brought in two runs. Well, that’s not so bad. And I guess
you’ll do even better to-morrow.”
“I hope so,” said Lester. “I’d like to do well to-morrow, for you see
Ruth will be there. I wanted to tell you, Dave; to-morrow she and I
are announcing our engagement.”
“Fine enough!” cried David. “I always felt it would come sometime.
It’s splendid, Lester. But I beat you to it. Katharine Vance and I
announced our engagement this evening.”
Lester was enthusiastic in his expressions of rejoicing.
“I suppose in a way it was rather foolish of us,” admitted David.
“With four years at least ahead of me in which I shan’t be earning a
cent, and probably six or seven, anyway, before I can afford to get
married. But Katharine was game for it—and somehow there’s a
satisfaction in letting our friends know how we feel about each
other.”
“Yes,” said Lester. “Ruth and I have no very immediate prospects.
I’ve got over those get-rich-quick ideas I used to air so freely, Dave.
I’m starting in next week to work in a cotton mill down in New
Bedford. I’m going to try to learn the business from the bottom up.”
He added musingly, “With the real things of life so close to us, isn’t it
funny that I should think of that game to-morrow as so important?”
“No,” said David. “Of course it’s important. It’s a thing you’ve
worked hard for; it’s a thing the whole college is keen about.”
“Yes, but it’s more important than in just that way,” said Lester
slowly. “I feel as if it were going to be the first real test of me for
Ruth. She’ll be with my mother and father; they saw the game at
New Haven to-day. At one time I thought they wouldn’t come to see
me graduate—you know why.”
“Of course they’d come.”
“Yes, they’ve forgiven me. So has Ruth. I told her the whole story
about myself, Dave.”
“That must have been hard,” said David, a good deal moved.
“I felt that it was only fair to her. It was right that she should
know how weak I’d been and should realize what a chance she
might be taking if she said yes. It hurt her terribly. But she believes
in me in spite of all. She feels sure I can never be so weak again.
You and she have been as splendid to me as any two human beings
could be—far more so than I deserved.”
“She’s a brick,” said David. “And you don’t need to worry about the
need of making a good showing in the game to-morrow. You’ll do
that, anyway; but you could strike out every time you came to bat,
and it couldn’t affect Ruth’s feelings for you in the least.”
“It mightn’t, except that she realizes I have a special responsibility
to the college and the class, after what I did. And if instead I should
do poorly—”
“Forget it,” said David. “You go right to bed and sleep. You’ll do
your best. Don’t worry.”
“I guess that’s good advice.” Lester turned to the door. “Oh, by the
way, Dave, would it be all right for me to bring Ruth and mother and
father round to your house after the game? She’d like to see your
family, and so should I.”
“Mother and Mr. Dean will be delighted,” said David. “I’ll have
Katharine there, too.”
David sat with Katharine at the game, and in the row in front of
them and only a short distance away sat Ruth and Mr. and Mrs.
Wallace. Across the intervening backs they exchanged nods and
smiles. Ruth at the beginning of the game was radiant, but as it
proceeded the expression with which she followed Lester’s
movements became anxious and troubled. As for David, the course
of events filled him with dismay. Harvard was being beaten, and
almost worse than that Lester was playing wretchedly. He muffed a
throw at first base that let in a run; he struck out in the second
inning, when he first came to bat; he struck out again in the fourth
and again in the seventh.
“Isn’t it awful!” David muttered to Katharine, when after the last
failure Lester walked with hanging head to his seat.
“Yes, I feel so sorry for him. I suppose he’s just overcome with the
responsibility—having Ruth here, and their engagement just out, and
everybody expecting him to do great things.”
Overcome by the responsibility; yes, that was it, David knew, and
he knew that Lester would interpret his failure in this game as
another manifestation of incurable weakness. Of course Ruth would
not so regard it, but David found himself concerned now with
Lester’s own soul and the damage that would be done to it should
that self-confidence which had been already so shaken be destroyed.
When Harvard came to bat in the last half of the ninth inning, Yale
was leading by a score of 6 to 3. People were already leaving the
stands, and moving languidly toward the gate, admitting defeat.
Then suddenly the whole complexion of the game changed; a base
on balls, an error, a scratchy little infield hit; the bases were filled,
with none out, and the spectators were on their feet, cheering and
shouting.
“He can’t strike out now; he can’t!” murmured David.
For it was Lester that advanced to the plate.
“Why don’t they put some one in to bat for that fellow!” exclaimed
a man standing behind David.
He had hardly finished the remark when the pitcher delivered the
last ball of the game. There was the resounding crack of a clean and
solid hit; there was a tumultuous outburst of sound from the crowd;
the ball flew far over the head of the center fielder, who went
sprinting after it to no purpose. “The longest hit ever made on this
field,” affirmed the ground keeper afterward. The centerfielder was
just picking up the ball when Lester crossed the plate with the fourth
run of the inning, the winning run of the game.
Before he could make his escape a mob of shouting classmates
bore down upon him. Hundreds of Harvard men swarmed over the
fences and in an instant had possession of the field. Lester was
hoisted to the shoulders of a group who clung to him firmly despite
his struggles and appeals. “Right behind the band!” they shouted;
and right behind the band they bore him, up and down the field, at
the head of the ever-lengthening, joyously serpentining, and wildly

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