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Multiobjective Optimisation and Control 1st Edition G. P.
Liu Digital Instant Download
Author(s): G. P. Liu, Jian-Bo Yang, J. F. Whidborne
ISBN(s): 9780863802645, 0863802648
Edition: 1st
File Details: PDF, 1.73 MB
Year: 2003
Language: english
Multiobjective
Optimisation and
Control
ENGINEERING SYSTEMS MODELLING AND CONTROL
SERIES

Series Editor: Professor D H Owens

University of Sheffield, UK

3. Controllability Analysis and Control Structure Selection

Y Cao, D Rossiter and D H Owens *
4. Multiobjective Optimisation and Control
G P Liu, J B Yang and J F Whidborne

* forthcoming
Multiobjective
Optimisation and
Control

G P Liu, University of Nottingham, UK

J B Yang, UMIST, UK
J F Whidborne, King’s College London, UK

RESEARCH STUDIES PRESS LTD.

Baldock, Hertfordshire, England
RESEARCH STUDIES PRESS LTD.
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Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Liu, G.P.(Guo Ping), 1962 –

Multiobjective optimisation and control / G.P. Liu, J.B. Yang, J.F. Whidborne.
p. cm. – (Engineering systems modelling and control series ; 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 0-86380-264-8
1. Mathematical optimisation. 2. Nonlinear programming. 3. Multiple criteria decision
making. I. Yang, Jian-Bo, 1961 – II Whidborne, J.F. (James Ferris), 1960- III. Title. IV.
Series.

QA402.5 .L57 2001

519.3--dc21 2001019195

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0 86380 264 8

Printed in Great Britain by SRP Ltd., Exeter

 v

Dedication
To Weihong and Louise
(G.P. Liu)
To Dong-Ling and Lin
(J.B. Yang)
To Cecile
(J.F. Whidborne)
Contents

Preface xiii
Symbols and Abbreviations xv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Multiobjective Optimisation 1
1.1.1 Constrained Optimisation 1
1.1.2 Conventional Multiobjective Optimisation 2
1.1.3 Method of Inequalities 7
1.1.4 Multiobjective Genetic Algorithms 9
1.2 Multiobjective Control 10
1.2.1 Con icts and Trade-o s in Control Systems 11
1.2.2 Multiobjective Robust Control 14
1.2.3 Multiobjective Critical Control 15
1.2.4 Multiobjective Eigenstructure Assignment 16
1.2.5 Multiobjective PID Control 16
1.2.6 Multiobjective Optimisation of Controller Implementations 17
1.2.7 Multiobjective Nonlinear Identi cation 18
1.2.8 Multiobjective Fault Detection 19
1.3 Outline of the Book 20
2 Nonlinear Optimisation 23
2.1 One-Dimensional Optimisation 23
2.1.1 The Dichotomy Method with Derivatives 23
2.1.2 The Dichotomy Method without Derivatives 25
2.1.3 The Fibonacci Method 26
2.1.4 The Golden Section Search Method 31
2.2 Optimisation Conditions 32
2.2.1 Necessary Conditions for Local Optimality 32
2.2.2 SuÆcient Conditions for Local Optimality 34
vii
viii CONTENTS

2.3 Unconstrained Optimisation Methods 34

2.3.1 Steepest Decent Method 34
2.3.2 Newton's Method 38
2.3.3 Quasi-Newton's Methods 41
2.4 Summary 44
3 Constrained Optimisation 45
3.1 Introduction 45
3.2 Optimality Conditions 46
3.2.1 Basic Concepts 46
3.2.2 Kuhn-Tucker Necessary Condition 47
3.2.3 Second Order SuÆcient Conditions 48
3.3 Primal Methods 52
3.3.1 Sequential Linear Programming 52
3.3.2 Sequential Quadratic Programming 55
3.4 Dual Methods 60
3.4.1 Lagrangean Methods 61
3.4.2 Method of Exterior Penalties 64
3.4.3 Method of Interior Penalties 68
3.5 Summary 71
4 Multiple Objective Optimisation 73
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 Basic Concepts and Methods 74
4.2.1 Concepts and De nitions 74
4.2.2 Method Classi cation 77
4.2.3 Simple Weighting Method 78
4.3 p-Norm Methods 82
4.3.1 Minimax (Ideal Point) Method 82
4.3.2 Goal Attainment Method 89
4.3.3 Goal Programming 91
4.3.4 The Minimax Reference Point Method 95
4.4 Interactive Methods 103
4.4.1 Geo rion's Method 103
4.4.2 The STEM Method 108
4.4.3 The ISTM Method 112
4.4.4 The Gradient Projection Method 116
4.5 Summary 123
5 Genetic Algorithms and Optimisation 125
5.1 Introduction 125
CONTENTS ix

5.2 What are Genetic Algorithms 125

5.3 Basic Structure of Genetic Algorithms 127
5.4 Population Representation and Initialisation 129
5.4.1 Binary Representation 129
5.4.2 Real-Valued Representation 129
5.4.3 Initialisation 130
5.5 Fitness Functions 130
5.6 Selection 132
5.6.1 Roulette Wheel Selection Methods 133
5.6.2 Stochastic Universal Sampling 134
5.7 Crossover 135
5.7.1 Single-Point Crossover 135
5.7.2 Multi-Point Crossover 135
5.7.3 Uniform Crossover 136
5.7.4 Other Crossover Operators 137
5.7.5 Intermediate Recombination 137
5.7.6 Line Recombination 138
5.8 Mutation 138
5.9 Reinsertion and Termination 140
5.9.1 Reinsertion 140
5.9.2 Termination 141
5.10 Multiobjective Optimisation with GAs 141
5.10.1 Constrained Optimisation 141
5.10.2 Non-Pareto Optimisation 142
5.10.3 Pareto-Based Optimisation 143
5.11 An Example 143
5.12 Summary 146
6 Robust Control System Design by Mixed Optimisation 147
6.1 Introduction 147
6.2 An H1 Loop Shaping Design Procedure 148
6.2.1 Overview 148
6.2.2 Preliminaries 149
6.2.3 Normalised Left Coprime Factorisation 150
6.2.4 Coprime Factor Robust H1 Stability Problem 151
6.2.5 A Loop-Shaping Design Procedure (LSDP) 153
6.2.6 Example { The Inverted Pendulum 156
6.3 Mixed-Optimisation for the LSDP 160
6.3.1 MATLAB Implementation - The MODCONS Toolbox 162
6.4 Example { The Distillation Column 163
x CONTENTS

6.5 Example { High Speed EMS Maglev Vehicle 167

6.6 Summary 175
7 Multiobjective Control of Critical Systems 177
7.1 Introduction 177
7.2 Critical Control Systems 178
7.3 Critical System Descriptions 180
7.4 Input Spaces of Systems 183
7.5 Multiobjective Critical Control 184
7.6 Control Design of SISO Critical Systems 186
7.7 Control Design of MIMO Critical Systems 191
7.8 An Example 197
7.9 Summary 198
8 Multiobjective Control Using Eigenstructure Assignment 199
8.1 Introduction 199
8.2 What is Eigenstructure Assignment 200
8.3 Allowable Eigenvector Subspaces 203
8.4 Parametric Eigenstructure Assignment 206
8.5 Multiobjective Eigenstructure Assignment 210
8.6 Controller Design Using the Method of Inequalities 214
8.7 Controller Design Using Genetic Algorithms 217
8.8 Summary 221
9 Multiobjective PI Controller Design for a Gasi er 223
9.1 Introduction 223
9.2 Modelling of the Gasi er 224
9.3 System Speci cations of the Gasi er 226
9.4 Multiobjective PI Control Formulation 228
9.5 Multiobjective Optimal-Tuning PI Control 230
9.6 Simulation Results and Discussions 231
9.7 Summary 238
10 Multiobjective PID Controller Implementation Design 239
10.1 Introduction 239
10.2 FWL Fixed-Point Representation 241
10.2.1 A Linear System Equivalence Completion Problem 242
10.3 MOGA for Optimal FWL Controller Structures 245
10.3.1 Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm 245
10.3.2 Procedure Outline 248
10.3.3 Encoding of Solution Space 249
CONTENTS xi

10.4 Example { Steel Rolling Mill System 249

10.4.1 Performance indices 250
10.4.2 Nominal Plant Model 251
10.4.3 Controller 251
10.4.4 Design Results 252
10.5 Example { IFAC93 Benchmark Design 252
10.5.1 Performance Indices 253
10.5.2 Nominal Plant Model and Controller 253
10.5.3 Design Results 254
10.6 Summary 257
11 Multiobjective Nonlinear Identi cation 259
11.1 Introduction 259
11.2 Neural Networks 261
11.3 Gaussian Radial Basis Function Networks 263
11.4 Nonlinear Modelling with Neural Networks 264
11.5 Modelling Selection by Genetic Algorithms 265
11.6 Multiobjective Identi cation Criteria 266
11.7 Multiobjective Identi cation Algorithm 268
11.8 Examples 271
11.8.1 Example 1 272
11.8.2 Example 2 277
11.9 Summary 279
12 Multiobjective Fault Diagnosis 281
12.1 Introduction 281
12.2 Overview of Robust Fault Diagnosis 282
12.3 Observer Based Fault Diagnosis 284
12.4 Multiple Objectives of Fault Diagnosis 286
12.5 Disturbance Distribution and Fault Isolation 287
12.6 Parameterisation of Fault Diagnosis 288
12.7 Multiobjective Fault Diagnosis 290
12.8 An Example 291
12.9 Summary 295
Bibliography 297
Index 317
Preface
Multiobjective optimisation has been widely applied to control systems to
achieve a number of design objectives that are often con icting. This book
is intended to cover the central concepts of multiobjective optimisation and
control techniques. It is designed for either self-study by professionals or class-
room work at the undergraduate or postgraduate level for students who have
a technical background in control engineering and engineering mathematics.
Like the eld of optimisation and control, which involves many classical and
advanced disciplines, the book should be useful to control system designers
and researchers and other specialists from the host of disciplines from which
practical optimisation and control applications are drawn.
The prerequisites for convenient use of the book are relatively modest; the
prime requirement being some familiarity with introductory elements of linear
algebra and linear control systems. Certain sections and developments do as-
sume some knowledge of more advanced concepts of control systems, but the
text is structured so that the mainstream of the development can be faithfully
pursued without reliance on this more advanced background material.
Although the book covers primarily material that is now fairly standard,
it is intended to re ect theoretical and practical insights of multiobjective
optimisation and control. These provide structure to what might otherwise
be simply a collection of techniques and results, and this is valuable both as
a means for learning existing material and for developing new results. One
major insight of this type is the connection between the purely analytical
character of an optimisation problem and the behaviour of control techniques
used to design a practical system.
Much of the work described in this book is based on a series of publica-
tions by the authors. The following publishers are gratefully acknowledged for
permission to publish aspects of the authors' work appeared in their journals:
The Institution of Electrical Engineers, Taylor and Francis Ltd., The Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and The Institute of Mechanical Engi-
neers. The authors would like to thank the following people whom they have

xiii
xiv PREFACE

each collaborated with on some of the material for the book: Professor Steve
Billings, Dr Jie Chen, Dr Steve Daley, Dr Roger Dixon, Dr Dawei Gu, Dr
Visakan Kadirkamanathan, Professor Duan Li, Professor Ron Patton, Profes-
sor Ian Postlethwaite and Dr Vladimir Zakian. Guoping Liu wishes to thank
his wife Weihong and daughter Louise for their constant encouragement, un-
derstanding and tolerance during the preparation of the manuscript. Jian-Bo
Yang wishes to thank his wife Dong-Ling and daughter Lin for their sharing
his interests and providing support in writing the book. James Whidborne
wishes to thank his wife Cecile and daughters Gwenaelle and Camille for their
support, love and understanding. He would also like to thank Raza Samar,
Aamer Bhatti and the other organisers of the 25th International Nathiagali
Summer College for the opportunity to present some of the material contained
in this book to the college in 2001.
G. P. Liu
School of Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing
Engineering and Management
University of Nottingham
Nottingham NG7 2RD
United Kingdom
J. B. Yang
Manchester School of Management
University of Manchester Institute
of Science and Technology
Manchester M60 1QD
United Kingdom
J. F. Whidborne
Department of Mechanical Engineering
King's College London
London WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

January 2002
Symbols and Abbreviations
The symbols and abbreviations listed here are used unless otherwise stated.
C eld of complex numbers
(
) complex conjugate
DM decision maker
Æx(t) x_ (t) for continuous time and x(t + 1) for discrete time
EA eigenstructure assignment
FDI fault detection and isolation
FWL nite word-length
GA genetic algorithm
GAs genetic algorithms
GRBF Gaussian radial basis function
k H kn n-norm of the function H (s)
ISTM interactive step trade-o method
im imaginary part of a complex number
inf f
g in mum
j imaginary indictor of a complex
K system controller
L left eigenvector matrix
L [:] Laplace transform operation
 eigenvalue
i i-th eigenvalue
 closed-loop eigenvalue set
LHP left half-plane
LSDP loop-shaping design procedure
LQG linear quadratic Gaussian
MBP moving boundaries process
MIMO multi-input multi-output
MLP multilayer perceptron
MOGA multiobjective genetic algorithm
MoI method of inequalities
Max Maximum
maxf
g maximum
Min Minimum

xv
xvi SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

minf
g minimum
j
j modulus
N integer numbers
N+ non-negative integer numbers
! angular frequency
PI proportional-integral
PID proportional-integral-derivative
p design parameter
@ partial derivative with respect to x
@x
 performance function
R right eigenvector matrix
RBF radial basis function
R eld of real numbers ( 1; 1)
R+ eld of non-negative real numbers [0; 1)
RHP right half-plane
re real part of a complex number
SISO single-input single-output
SLP sequential linear programming
STEM step method
s Laplace operator
s:t: satisfy
 (M ) maximum singular value of the matrix M
(M ) minimum singular value of the matrix M
supf
g supremum
T sampling interval in sampled-data systems
t time
u system control input
x system state vector
y system output
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 When next Jack came to the surface, he found himself in what
seemed a long, narrow gallery, nearly filled with water; a low,
vaulted roof just above him, and an opening at each end through
which shone the light of the sky. Drops from the clammy and
dripping stones fell with slow, echoing plashes in the cavernous
gloom, reminding him that he was under the canal; that the great,
winding, watery thoroughfare, which he had travelled many a
summer, and through which the lazy boats moved, was now over his
head.
Accustomed to diving as he was, a plunge at the end of an
exhausting race was not a good thing for the lungs; and Jack
declares that he was never so nearly dead for want of breath, as
when he rose to the surface in the culvert. For a minute or more it
seemed quite impossible for him to make any exertion, beyond what
was necessary to keep his nose above water. But there he stayed,
just moving his feet and hands, while he filled his aching lungs with
drafts of air, which made him rise and sink, and sent gentle
undulations and ripples along the dark culvert walls.
The cries for help came to his ears, and inspired him with fresh
courage: he knew that his stratagem had succeeded. He knew, too,
that it would not be long before search would be made for him in
the culvert, or at the other opening. “I must be moving!” he thought.
Swimming swiftly and silently under the low vault, he passed
completely beneath the canal, and cautiously put his head out on
the other side. Before him was the tranquil mill-race half filled with
floating saw-logs, the saw-mill at the end of it, and a low, wild
country of stumpy farms and wooded swamps beyond. Nobody in
sight; but he could still hear excited voices on the other side of the
canal embankments.
Gliding out of the culvert, he swam to the right bank of the race,
which was there built up five or six feet from the ground, crawled
over it, dropped down under it, and ran along beside it till he
reached the mill. He heard the shrill shriek of filing saws as he
passed, and knew that the sawyer was busy. Dodging between great
piles of slabs and lumber, he kept on, and soon gained the shelter of
a fringe of alders that bordered the onward-flowing mill-stream. That
led him into a swampy piece of woods. And so it happened that, by
the time Sellick and his companions scrambled from the deck of the
wheat-boat upon the bridge at the Basin, and turned back to the
culvert, the fugitive was nearly a mile away.
Traversing the swamp, Jack crossed several fields and a wood-lot,
and at length came out upon a recent clearing, in which a number of
half-burnt stumps and log-heaps were smoking. Beyond that was a
road; and on the farther side of the road was a cornfield.
“That’s the place to hide!” thought Jack; and having stopped to
drink at a little spring, he crossed the road, and was soon gliding
between rows of tasselled stalks and long green rustling leaves.
The piece was wet, and a part of the crop was late, and Jack
observed with interest a number of good roasting ears. Being a
prudent youth, he had already begun to question where his next
meal was to be obtained; for although he had a little money, he had
no hat, and feared to present himself anywhere bareheaded.
“I’ll help myself, as the coons and squirrels do,” said he, as he
noticed the ravages of those destructive little beasts all about the
field. “Hello! here’s something interesting!”
It was a scarecrow of stuffed clothes, from which a flock of noisy
blackbirds flew up at his approach.
“That’s a pretty good felt hat,” said he; “wonder how it would fit
me. Excuse me, old fellow; I need it more than you do; I’ll bring it
back when I get through with it. In the mean while the blackbirds
can’t respect you any less than they do now, I know!”
He pulled off the hat, gave it a good beating on the scarecrow’s
outstretched wooden hand, and found that, by stuffing a few corn-
husks under the lining, he could make it do very well.
“Thank you,” said he. “Now I feel as if I had traded myself off for
another boy. If you’ve no objections, I think I’ll keep you company a
little while. Poor company’s better than none, as they say. Oblige me
by holding my coat till it dries a little.”
He hung his wet garment on the scarecrow, and walked leisurely
about, selecting a few of the best roasting ears he could find. His
breakfast had really amounted to nothing,—good Mrs. Pipkin’s
biscuit and butter having been sacrificed with the milk he bought of
the grocer,—and he was growing faint.
The excitement of his escape had left him in good spirits. For a
while he was buoyed up by a wild feeling of freedom; and his old
love of adventure came back upon him. The wrongs he had suffered
made him reckless and defiant of the whole world.
“I’ve tried to be honest; but what’s the use?” said he. “I thought
I’d got a chance for myself, and this is what it comes to! Even the
deacon has turned against me! Now let ’em look out! I’ll have my
pay, somehow!”
If Jack had kept near the canal, and in this mood had seen his old
friend Pete comfortably riding the tiller of the wheat-boat, his whole
future might have been changed by so slight a circumstance. But his
good genius had not yet given him over to his own vindictive
thoughts and rash resolves.
With weariness and hunger came memory and reflection. The
burning sense of injury with which he thought of Peternot and
Phineas Chatford, and all who had been instrumental in his disgrace,
gave way to different emotions as he remembered good Mrs.
Chatford, and lovely Annie Felton, and affectionate little Kate.
“O, shall I never see them again?” he murmured; and a big sob
rose in his throat. And the home where he had been so happy for a
few short months! And Lion! “I won’t go without Lion, anyway!” he
exclaimed. “I’ll see the Huswick boys about the money, and get that
if I can, and Lion anyhow!”
It was a beautiful day, mild and tranquil and hazy, with just that
tinge of melancholy in it which marks the gradual change of summer
into autumn. To Jack, lurking there in the silent cornfield, it seemed
like Sunday. He sat down in the warm sunlight by the scarecrow, and
waited for his clothes to dry.
The shrill song of the locust rose now and then on the still air,
increasing for a few seconds in vehemence, then sank and ceased;
and occasionally the gossip of the multitudinous blackbirds came
quite near to him, as the chattering flocks settled on the corn; but
he heard scarcely any other sound, until suddenly he became aware
of footsteps and a rustling of leaves not far off. He sat still, and
listened. Then all was quiet again for a minute or two. Then came
the loud report of a fowling-piece, accompanied by a curious rattling
sound close above his head. A scattering volley of small shot had cut
the corn-tops all about the spot where he sat.
His first thought was that he had been shot at. But just then a
cloud of blackbirds rose from the corn, and the feet he had heard
approaching rushed towards them. He kept perfectly still, and saw a
boy about his own size run past him, between two rows of corn, not
a rod off. The young hunter might easily have discovered Jack sitting
there beside the scarecrow, if he had not been so intent on picking
up his blackbirds.
 CHAPTER XXX

JACK BREAKFASTS AND RECEIVES A VISITOR.

Soon Jack heard the gun in another part of the field; then a
quarter of a mile off; then faintly in the far distance. Then the
blackbirds came back again.
“Now,” said Jack, “I’ll see what I can do for breakfast.”
He put on his coat, filled his pockets with roasting ears, and
returned towards the stump-lot where he had seen the smoking log-
heaps. He had not gone far when he saw something black hop along
the ground before him. It was a wounded blackbird. He gave chase,
picked up a dead bird by the way, caught and killed the first, and
dressed both with his jack-knife. They were plump and fat.
“Some folks think blackbirds ain’t good to eat,” said he, “but I am
going to try ’em.”
Cautiously emerging from the cornfield, he crossed the road, and
got over into the clearing. There he found the spring at which he
had drank before, and, having drank again, he washed his hands
and face and prepared his birds for roasting. He now sought out one
of the half-burnt log-heaps, and, crouching beside it, opened a bed
of glowing coals with a green branch which he used as a poker. A
part of the branch he whittled into a spit for his birds, and then
proceeded to cook his breakfast.
He burnt the corn, and likewise his fingers a little, and more than
once a bird dropped from the spit into the fire; but he didn’t mind
these slight mishaps. His appetite was good, and, everything being
ready at last, he made a delicious meal without salt. How sweet the
roasted corn was! And he laughed at the foolish prejudice of some
ignorant people against the flesh of blackbirds, as he sucked the
tender bones and tossed them into the fire.
All this time he kept a wary watch for intruders; and now he was
not pleased to see over his shoulder a man crossing the stump-lot.
He moved at a sauntering pace, and stooped now and then to
examine objects on the ground; and Jack noticed that once or twice
he appeared to put something into a little bag he carried in his hand.
“Maybe he won’t see me,” thought Jack. “Yes, he will, though!
He’s coming straight towards me!”
He thought it best, however, to keep quiet and go on with his
breakfast. He had already thrown the well-gnawed corn-cobs into
the fire, and was picking the last ribs of his second blackbird, when
the stranger drew near.
“You seem to be having a jolly time here, all by yourself.”
Jack looked up, and saw beside him a rather short, square-built
young man, with a face strongly marked by the small-pox,—a face
which, however, in spite of its blemishes, was rendered interesting
and attractive by a certain lively and good-humored expression. The
little bag in his hand turned out to be a handkerchief tied up by the
corners, from between which peeped the green tufts and delicate
plumes of some fresh mosses and ferns.
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE.

“Not so very jolly,” replied Jack, perceiving at once that he had

nothing to fear from a person who looked down upon him out of
such pleasant and kindly eyes.
“You’d better stir your fire and burn up those cobs before old Mr.
Canning comes this way,” said the stranger. “He’s a man who would
have prosecuted the Master and his disciples for plucking corn in his
field on the Sabbath day.”
“He can prosecute me, if he likes,” replied Jack, with a reckless
laugh. “I’ve one crabbed old man after me already.”
“I thought so. Your clothes haven’t got quite dry yet, I see. Do you
know, I have you to thank for a fine bath this morning?”
Jack stared. “How so?”
“I went into the pond after you.” And Percy Lanman—for it was he
—proceeded to relate what had occurred at the culvert after Jack’s
escape.
Jack was greatly entertained, especially by the story of Sellick and
his companions carried up to the Basin by his old friend Pete, on the
wheat-boat. Percy’s good-humor and sympathy had by this time
quite won his confidence, and the fugitive told him in return the
whole story of his misfortunes.
“I think you have been treated outrageously!” said the young man.
“But yours is not so extraordinary a case of injustice as you suppose.
I advise you to read history a little: you will find it for the most part
only a record of wrong and oppression. Human nature is about the
same to-day it always has been. Most people—I am sorry to say it—
are capable of seeing only their own selfish interest in anything that
concerns them. As you go through life you must expect to see
friends and neighbors start out into enemies and oppressors, when
their personal interest is touched. The worst of it will be, that people
of whom you expect better things—who are supposed to know
something of the Golden Rule, and to be actuated by feelings of
justice and benevolence—will for the sake of a few dollars grasp and
scramble, and show no more regard for reason and right than so
many hungry wolves.”
This picture of the worst side of human society was well calculated
to show Jack that his was not the only or the worst case of wrong in
the world. “But what is a fellow to do?” he asked.
 Percy sat down on the ground, and, opening his handkerchief,
talked on, while he assorted his mosses and ferns.
“You must make up your mind, in the first place, that you have
got to bear a good deal of this sort of thing in going through life.
Beware of briers and thistles, but remember that they exist, and be
patient when you get pricked. In reading stories of persecution and
martyrdom, I always feel that I had rather be the just man who
suffered for the right, than the tyrants and bigots who tried to
destroy him. Be true to yourself, and nobody can do you any real,
permanent harm. Let ’em rage! what do you and I care? There is
something in our minds superior to all their spites. You have done
what almost any boy would do, that was smart enough; and I can’t
help laughing to think how you locked up the court, and afterwards
went through the culvert whilst we were trying to fish you out of the
pond.”
Jack laughed too, as he mechanically looked over Percy’s plants.
“But you might have done better,—you might do better now,” said
the young man. And his scarred and pitted features looked somehow
radiant and beautiful to Jack.
“What could I do?”
“Why, let ’em take you to jail, if they want to. What hurt will it do
you? Stand up and say, ‘I thought I was right; I meant to do right;
and now if you want to send me to jail, go ahead! I can stand it! I’m
willing!’ Throw yourself boldly on your honesty, rest on that rock,
and let ’em do their worst!”
Jack, feeling how little honesty there had been in his heart a little
while before, hung his head over a sprig of fern he was twirling
between thumb and finger.
“Mind, I don’t advise you to do just that, for I’m not sure you’re
up to it. But if you could do it, ’t would be grand in you! People talk
of good and bad fortunes; but fortunes are good or bad according to
the use we make of ’em. This disgrace you are suffering now you
may turn into one of the blessings of your life; or it may make a
thief or a vagabond of you. Understand?”
Percy’s eyes twinkled like a clear, running brook, as they looked
into Jack’s, which fell before them,—the lad remembering how really
he had been a thief and vagabond in his heart, an hour ago. Yes, he
understood.
“Think it over,” said Percy. “Meanwhile you will want a little
money.”
“No, I sha’n’t!” cried Jack.
“But you will, though. Here’s a trifle, which you can repay when it
is perfectly convenient,” added Percy, seeing that the proud boy
would not accept a gift.
“Well, if you lend it to me,” said Jack, receiving the jingling coin in
his palm. “I’ll pay you some time. If I can only get that money of
Hank Huswick! I’ll go for it this very afternoon!”
“Well, good by,” said Percy, tying up his plants. “Keep your head
and heart right, and you’ll do well, whatever happens. Come to me if
you want help. You know where I live.”
And he sauntered off across the field, looking curiously at every
bird and plant and stone.
“How happy he is!” thought Jack, following him with yearning
eyes. “And I was just so happy once! Shall I ever, shall I ever be
again?”
He revisited the spring, and afterwards made a dessert of berries
in a wild field hedged by raspberry and blackberry bushes; then set
out to find the Huswick boys.
 CHAPTER XXXI

TEA WITH AUNT PATSY.

Alone in her lonely little house, in the closing twilight, Aunt Patsy
had put up the leaf of her rickety pine table, and, having placed
upon it a pewter plate and a cracked teacup, was busy preparing her
humble supper,—bending over the hearth, toasting a crust of bread
on a fork, beside a simmering teapot,—when the door was softly
pushed open and somebody looked in.
“Who’s there?” shrieked the old woman, dropping her toast and
starting up in affright.
“Nobody but me; don’t be scared, Aunt Patsy.” And the visitor
glided into the room and softly closed the door again.
“You! Jack Hazard!” she exclaimed, recovering her self-possession.
“Bless ye, lad, I’m always glad to see ye. But vicious boys have
played so many mean tricks on me, I’m awful skittish! It’s gittin’ so
dark I didn’t know ye at fust. Or is it that odd-lookin’ hat you’ve got
on?”
Jack laughed, and said he thought it must be the hat that
disguised him. “It’s a borrowed one; I’m great on borrowing hats!
Did I ever tell you how I made free with Syd Chatford’s once? A very
quiet and accommodating gentleman was kind enough to let me
take this right off from his head; he’s standing out in the open field
bareheaded now, waiting for me to return it.”
 “What are ye talkin’? Set down, won’t ye, and keep a poor body
company for a little while? You’re jest in time to take a cup o’ tea
with me, and eat a piece of Mis’ Chatford’s pie ye brought me. I wish
I had a candle; but I’m too poor to indulge in luxuries. I can start up
a flash of fire, though.”
“Don’t start it up for me,” replied Jack. “I prefer to sit in the dark.”
“But we must have a trifle of a blaze, to see to eat by; besides, I
want a glimpse o’ your face. Friends’ faces ain’t so common a sight
with me that I can afford to miss seein’ ’em when they do look in.
How’s Mis’ Chatford, and dear Miss Felton?”
“They seemed to be in their usual state of health when I last saw
them. I have left Mr. Chatford’s; did you know it?”
“Left—Deacon Chatford’s! Why, lad, you astonish me!” And Aunt
Patsy, who was putting some chips on the fire, turned and stared at
her guest. “I thought you was kind of adopted by them.”
At this the cheery tone of voice in which Jack had spoken began
to fail him. “I—I thought—I hoped so—too,” he murmured, standing
beside the mantel-piece. “But I have left. I can never go back there
again. I’m in a bad scrape, and even if I get out of it I can’t go back;
for there’s a lie between Phin and me, and of course they believe
Phin and blame me,” he went on with swelling passion in his tones.
“I’ve just come in to say good by to you.”
“Good by, Jack? You can’t mean it! Where ye goin’?” And the
amazed old woman and the agitated boy stood facing each other in
the flickering firelight.
“I don’t know! I just want to see her first,—I mean Miss Felton,—
and get my dog; then I’m off; no matter where. I mustn’t be seen
here. You couldn’t hide me, could you, if anybody should come in?
There’s a constable after me.”
“A constable! Why, what is the trouble? I’ll bar the door, the fust
thing!” The door was barred, and then Aunt Patsy carefully arranged
her dingy window-curtains so that no spying eye could look in.
“Now, here is the wood-shed; you know that well enough, often as
you have been in it to split my wood for me. The door is hooked on
the inside. You might slip in here, if anybody comes; and then, if I
give ye a signal, spring out of that door or out of the back winder,
either. But I don’t see why anybody should be s’archin’ for ye in my
house!”
“Peternot knows I come here sometimes,” said Jack. “But never
mind. I’ve slipped through the officer’s hands twice to-day. I’ll risk
him!”
“Is it Peternot!” exclaimed the old woman, angrily. “Tell me about
it! Meanwhile ye must drink a cup o’ tea with me.”
In vain Jack protested that he did not drink tea, that he wasn’t
hungry, and begged her not to trouble herself for him. She removed
the pewter plate and cracked cup, and, reaching the top shelf of her
closet, brought down the last remnants of an old-fashioned china
tea-set, a couple of plates and cups and saucers, once fair and
delicate but now much defaced by wear, the edges being nicked and
the original colored figures and gilding mostly gone.
While more bread was toasting, Jack began his story.
“A trunk of money!” exclaimed Aunt Patsy, interrupting him. “In
Peternot’s woods! I wonder! But go on, then I’ll tell you something!”
When he came to his adventure with the squire, she broke forth
again, “Jest like the mean old miserly curmudgeon! He’s tried for
fifteen year to git my little morsel of a place away from me; but he
hain’t done it yit, and he never will, long as I’m above the sod. But
go on, go on, Jack; then I’ll tell you a story!”
So Jack related all that had happened, down to his encounter with
Percy Lanman; by which time the toast and tea were on the table,
and the old lady, though excited by the narrative, bade him sit up
and share her supper. “It’s a poor show, I know,” said she, “but it’s
the best I have; and I shouldn’t have all this if ’t wa’n’t for you and
Mis’ Chatford.”
 “This toast is all I want,” said Jack. “I went to a house about two
hours ago and got a bowl of bread and milk for ten cents. The
woman didn’t want to take anything, but I thought I’d let her know I
wasn’t a beggar, though I felt like one; for I’d just had a wild-goose-
chase after the Huswick boys and my bag of money.”
“The Huswick boys! they’re as bad as Peternot himself, though in
a different way,” said Aunt Patsy, sipping her tea in the dancing light
of the fire, while Jack, sitting at the table to please her, nibbled his
toast.
“I’ve done three silly things, one every time I put any trust in
those rascals!” said Jack. “First, when I left ’em to guard the money
while I ran for Mr. Chatford; next, when I went with ’em to get it
back from the old squire; and again, when I went home last night,
instead of sticking tight to Hank and Tug till we found Cub and the
money.”
“That seems the weakest thing you have done,” said the old
woman. “Though if they meant to rob you, your follerin’ on ’em up
would have done no good.”
“I thought of that; and I imagined it would have a good effect if I
took Hank’s word, and made him believe I thought there was a little
honor in him. He may mean well by me still; but I’m pretty sure he is
dodging me on purpose. I found Dock and Hod and Tug this
afternoon; and they said Hank and Cub had cleared out for a day or
two for fear they would be arrested for helping me break into
Peternot’s house. Tug vowed he didn’t know where they were or
what they had done with the money.”
“They’re playin’ you false,” said Aunt Patsy. “But don’t mind. Now
I’ll tell you my story, and you’ll see you hain’t lost so much, and they
hain’t gained so much, as you and they think.”
“What do you mean?” cried Jack.
The old woman took a sip of tea and went on. “I know about that
money; at least, I know somethin’ about it. You’ve heard complaints
agin my fust husband,—how bad characters used to come to our
house, for one thing. I don’t deny but what there was somethin’ in
that, though he was a good man to me; whatever else he was, he
was good to me!” And the old woman wiped away a tear. “There was
one Sam Williams,—I always telled my husband he’d better have
nothin’ to do with him, for I was sure he’d come to some bad end;
and sure enough he did; he escaped from a constable and was shot;
died of his wound in jail. This was a year or two ’fore my fust
husband died; and ’twas when the officers was arter him that he
come to our house one night with a little trunk of money.”
“Half-dollars?” said Jack, eagerly interrupting her.
“I believe so, though I don’t remember for sartin about that. He
wanted my husband to keep it for him; but I said, ‘Don’t ye have
nothin’ to do with it, if you want to keep out o’ trouble.’ Well, he
stayed with us from jest arter dark one evenin’ till jest afore day
next mornin’; and that was the last we ever see of him. That must
’a’ been the trunk, and he hid it in the woods. If it was,” added Aunt
Patsy, looking keenly at Jack across the corner of the table, “then
either Mr. Chatford or the goldsmith has made a grand mistake.”
Again Jack anxiously demanded what she meant; but just as she
was about to explain herself, there came a light rap at the door. He
sprang to his feet in an instant.
“Hish!” she whispered, shaking her finger at him.
She hurriedly replaced the extra plate and cup and saucer in the
closet, while Jack, stepping on tiptoes, took refuge in the wood-
shed. The rap was repeated just as she reached the door.
 CHAPTER XXXII

A STARLIGHT WALK WITH ANNIE FELTON.

Without removing the bar, Aunt Patsy called out, “Who’s there?
What do you want?”
“I want to see you, Aunt Patsy,” answered a sweet feminine voice.
“Is it you, Miss Felton? Bless me!” And the old woman hastily
unbarred the door. “To think of my keepin’ you standin’ outside!
Come in, come in, you darlin’!”
In walked Annie, fresh and smiling, but casting nevertheless an
anxious and wistful glance about the room.
“I have just run over from my aunt’s,” she said; “really, I can’t sit
down. I thought you might have some news of our friend Jack.”
“Jack?” said the old lady, in a voice loud enough to be heard in the
wood-shed. “What about Jack?”
“Has no one told you? I didn’t know but he himself—O Jack!”
exclaimed Annie, joyfully, taking a quick step towards the door
through which the youngster at that moment advanced into the
room, “I am so glad to see you! I heard how you had got away, and
I was afraid we might never see you again!”
“I couldn’t go without seeing you once more!” said Jack, trembling
with emotion at this unexpected meeting. “Though I wasn’t sure you
would care to see me.”
 “O Jack! why not? Whatever you may have done, I shall always
feel an interest in you.”
“An interest in me!” said Jack, chokingly. “Bad as I am, that’s
kind!” He spoke bitterly, and drew back from her with a look of
disappointment.
“My dear Jack! you are not angry with me?”
“No! you might say what you like, I could never be angry with
you. But I didn’t think you would believe anything so very bad of
me, just from what other people say. I hoped at least you would
wait and hear my story first.” And Jack, still turning from her, wiped
his quivering eyes with his sleeve.
“Have I said I believed anything very bad of you?” asked Annie,
softly.
“No, but whatever I might have done, you said. That is, you don’t
quite give me up, in spite of my awful conduct!”
“Don’t you see, Miss Felton,” cried Aunt Patsy, “he’s been so put
upon and misused, he can’t be satisfied without his friends take his
part in downright ’arnest? That’s nat’ral. Half-way words won’t suit
him.”
“I know!” added Jack, with a passionate outburst; “Phin’s her
cousin; he’s a saint, and I am a liar and a villain, of course, if he
says so!”
“You know very well I don’t think Phin a saint,” replied Annie, with
gentle dignity, “any more than I think you a villain. You are both
boys, with the faults of boys. From all I hear, you have not done
perfectly right in every respect; and I don’t think you will claim that
you have. If you expected me just to pat you on the back, and say,
‘Poor Jack! good Jack! how they have abused you!’ why, then, you
haven’t known what a real friend I am to you. I came here this
evening, hoping to find you, and to do something for you. But if this
is the way you meet me, I suppose I might as well have stayed at
home.” And now she turned away.
 “Don’t go!” Jack entreated. “O Miss Felton! forgive me if I am
unreasonable! But it seems so hard to know that you think my
enemies are in the right! Do you believe I would break into a house
and steal; that I would make up a lie, to shift the blame to Phin or
his father or any one else? I can bear to have others think so meanly
of me, but not you!” And the boy’s passion broke forth in
uncontrollable sobs.
She took his hand with one of hers, and laid the other kindly and
soothingly upon his shoulder.
“There, there, Jack!” she said, her own voice full of emotion; “I
don’t believe you would deliberately steal or make up such a lie. I
know you wouldn’t!”
“And as for the money,” sobbed Jack, “I did just what Peternot’s
own nephew, who is studying law, said he should advise any one to
do who found treasure on another man’s land; he said, ‘Pocket it
and say nothing about it; keep possession, any way; fight for it.’
That’s what I tried to do. Then after I had been robbed of it, I went
to take it again, and that’s the cause of all my trouble.”
 A TRUE FRIEND.

“I regard Squire Peternot’s course very much as you do,” said

Annie, still soothing the lad, with one hand pressing his own and the
other on his shoulder, “though I’m not so angry at him. He has acted
according to his nature; not according to the Golden Rule, very sure.
But how few people act according to the Golden Rule, Jack! If we
were to quarrel with all who fail in that respect, I am afraid we
should find ourselves in difficulty with nearly the whole world. No,
Jack; it’s useless to fly into a passion with everybody we see acting
selfishly and meanly. It is much better to look carefully after our own
conduct, and see what we may be doing that is wrong. Now I want
you to walk home with me, and tell me your story by the way; then
we will see what had better be done. Aunt Patsy will leave her door
unbarred, so that you can come back and see her again.”
They went out together, and talked long in low tones as they
walked under the starlit sky across the fields.
“Now, Jack,” said Annie, when they had reached Mr. Chatford’s
orchard, and stopped beside the little brook that kept up its low
liquid babble in the dark shadows that half concealed it, “I have
heard your own story, and I can’t say that I blame you very much
for anything you have done. You have acted naturally, but not
always wisely. No doubt so much money appeared a great fortune to
you, and of course something very desirable. But I am by no means
sure it would have been a good thing for you to have. I’m afraid
your head would have been turned by it. You were doing well
enough before. You were sure of a good living, a good home, and a
chance for yourself, as I have heard you say with honest pride so
many times.”
“This is what my chance has finally come to!” said Jack,—“no
home, no future, but a constable at my heels!”
“I can think of something that might be worse for you than all
that,—getting rich too fast. That’s what ruins many. You were happy
in slowly working your way up the ladder, happier than you could
ever be again if you should suddenly find yourself at the top. The
money might not have harmed you, but I am sure you could have
done very well without it. Don’t regret it if it is lost. And, of all
things, don’t associate yourself with bad companions or adopt
unjustifiable means to gain even justifiable ends. Better submit to a
little wrong. If your enemies succeed in overreaching you, so much
the worse for them. Wouldn’t you rather be robbed than feel that
you have robbed another? I know you would, Jack!”
 “You talk just like Percy Lanman!” said the boy, his heart beginning
to feel warmed and comforted.
“The young man who dove for you in the pond? I heard Mr.
Chatford tell about him.”
“I saw him in the fields afterwards, and he lent me some money.
He talked just as you do!” Jack declared.
“Now, Jack,” said Annie, leaning tenderly on his shoulder and
looking into his face by the pale starlight, while her touch and the
tones of her voice set a little stream of joy dancing and singing in his
heart, like the shadowy brook at their feet, “I’m going to be frank
with you; hear what I say. Don’t run away. Don’t hide. Don’t try to
shirk the consequences of what you have done, but go home with
me now.”
“To Mr. Chatford’s?” said Jack with a start.
“Yes, just as if nothing had happened. Aunt’s folks will receive you
kindly, I know, from what they have said.”
“Never!” said Jack. “I never can enter that house again as long as
there’s a lie between me and Phin. It may be natural for his father to
believe him instead of me; but it’s something I never can get over.
No!” he added, as she would have urged him; “I can go anywhere
else, and suffer anything, before I can go back there. Besides, how
long before Sellick would be after me again, and carry me off to
jail?”
“Worse things than that might happen to you,” Annie replied.
“What?” said Jack.
“To go back to your former life and associates, to fall again under
bad influences, and lose all the good you have gained since you
have been with Uncle Chatford’s folks; that would be worse. I don’t
want you to go to jail, but I’d rather see you go there innocent, than
run away as if you were guilty. How proud I should be of you, if you
could stand up and say, ‘I may have done wrong, but I didn’t mean
to; now here I am, put me in jail if you want to!’ You would be proud
of yourself too! Your face would shine as it never did before.”
“O Miss Felton!” said Jack, “that’s just the way Percy Lanman
talked!”
“Get rid of all rash thoughts of revenge and wild living, and put
your trust in Providence, and in your own integrity,” she went on.
“Be yourself, your better self, always, and you’ll come off victorious
over everything. That’s my advice, dear Jack; and if Percy Lanman
gave you the same, I honor him for it. Now will you come in with
me?”
“I’ll go as far as the door with you,” said Jack, “but I can’t go in; I
can’t!”
As they emerged from the orchard and approached the house,
they could see through a lighted window the family sitting round the
evening lamp; Mrs. Chatford sewing, the deacon reading, Mr. Pipkin
holding a skein of thread for Mrs. Pipkin to wind, and Phin and
Moses playing “fox-and-geese,” while little Kate stood by looking
over the board,—a picture of quiet domestic enjoyment that
reminded poor Jack of what he had lost, and wrung his heart with
grief.
“Everything is just as it was before; nobody thinks of me, nobody
cares for me!” he exclaimed. “Good night!” And, moved by a wild
and passionate sorrow, he broke from her gentle, restraining touch,
and disappeared in the orchard.
 CHAPTER XXXIII

A STRANGE CALL AT A STRANGE HOUR OF THE NIGHT.

Wandering to and fro among the dark and silent trees, Jack
mastered his grief at length; then, remembering that he had still one
faithful friend, he went to find Lion.
No affectionate whine welcomed his approach. He spoke; he
stooped and looked into the gloomy and deserted kennel: no dog
was there. Phin, foreseeing the possibility of Jack’s return on some
such errand, had that night chained Lion in the barn, and the door
was locked.
Passing again near the house, Jack cast a vindictive look through
the window at Phin,—a look full of wrath and misery, which was,
however, softened a little when he saw Annie, standing, bonnet in
hand, and O how beautiful! talking to the family. Mr. Chatford had
put aside his paper, and the women their work, and the boys their
play, to listen to her. Jack knew she was talking of him; and it
seemed that he could almost hear the gracious words that fell from
those sweet, sad lips.
He watched until he saw all eyes turned upon Phineas, and
Phineas began to cry. She went on into another room, and Mr.
Chatford commenced talking to Phin. Then Phin looked up through
his tears and made some violent protestation. The deacon turned
with a dissatisfied countenance to his newspaper, while Phin slunk
away and sat moping in a corner.
 “I’d rather be in my place than in his, anyway!” murmured Jack.
“I’d rather have anything done to me than be mean and cowardly!”
The memory of all Annie Felton had said to him came back upon
his heart, which softened more and more under the influence of that
pure and gentle soul, as he walked back through the fields to Aunt
Patsy’s house.
“I was dreadful ’fraid you wouldn’t come back,” said the old
woman, welcoming him. “See! I’ve made up a sort of bed for you on
the floor. You can sleep here every night as long as you have to
dodge the constable.”
Jack, deeply affected by her kindness, regarded her with
struggling emotions for some moments before he ventured to speak.
Here was one of the outcasts of society, of whom it was impossible
for many people to believe any good thing, who appeared to the
world a hardened, embittered, hateful old hag, and nothing more;
and yet how kind, how motherly even, she was to him in his trouble!
Thus there are people all about us whom the world judges from
having seen only one side of them, and that their worst side, while
deep springs of human feeling lie hidden in their lives.
Jack murmured his thanks, and said, “I wanted to ask you more
about that money. You said either Mr. Chatford or the goldsmith had
made a mistake about it.”
“I’m sure on ’t,” replied Aunt Patsy. “So don’t worry over your loss.
There’s no doubt but what that was Sam Williams’s trunk; and me
and my husband knowed as well as we wanted to that Sam was a
practised counterfeiter. Of course, the coin was bogus.”
Jack took a quick step across the room, and, returning, looked
steadily at the fire.
“If I had only come and told you about it in the first place!” he
said. Then after a moment’s thought, “Maybe I’ll come back and
sleep on the bed you have made for me; I’ll be here again in half an
hour, if I conclude to. Don’t wait for me longer than that. Good
night, if I don’t come back.”
 “Any time to-night, I’ll let you in!” were her last words as he left
her door and disappeared in the darkness.
He walked fast down the road, passed Peternot’s house, turned
the opposite corner, and kept on until he came to a farm-house
standing on a gentle rise of ground near the street. He walked boldly
up to the door and knocked. A large-eyed, round-faced, cheerful-
looking woman appeared.
“Is the man of the house at home?” Jack inquired.
“He’s somewhere about the barn, with a lantern,” replied the
woman, regarding him with some curiosity.
“I’ll find him then,” said Jack.
As he approached the barn, he saw a man with a lantern come
out, leading a horse. Near the door, which he left open, he set down
the lantern in the yard, and disappeared with the horse around a
corner of the barn.
“He’s just going to the pasture bars,” thought Jack. “He’ll be back
in about two minutes.” His resolution began to waver. “I wish I had
waited till morning! Maybe ’t isn’t too late now. I’ll just slip into the
barn, anyway.”
He slipped into the barn accordingly, and seeing, by the light of
the lantern that shone in, a pile of clean straw in one corner, the
idea occurred to him that it would make a very good bed. He
couldn’t help laughing as he lay down and covered himself with it,
thinking, “This is a joke I guess the joker himself would relish!”
The man presently returned, took up the lantern, looked into the
barn as if to see that everything was secure, closed a door leading
to an adjacent stable, and then retired, shutting the barn door after
him and fastening it with a padlock.
“There’s been a boy here for you; have you seen him?” said the
cheerful-faced woman when he reached the house.
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