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(Download PDF) Fundamentals of Logic Design Enhanced Edition JR Charles H Roth Full Chapter PDF
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Fundamentals
of Logic Design
Larry L. Kinney
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Contributing Author
Eugene B. John
University of Texas at San Antonio
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Fundamentals of Logic Design, © 2021, 2014, 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc.
Enhanced Seventh Edition
Unless otherwise noted, all content is © Cengage.
Charles H. Roth, Jr., WCN: 02-300
Larry L. Kinney, and ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright
Eugene B. John herein may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means,
except as permitted by U.S. copyright law, without the prior written
Product Director, Global Engineering: permission of the copyright owner.
Timothy L. Anderson
Shannon Hawkins
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Dedication
—Larry Kinney
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Contents
Preface xiii
How to Use This Book for Self-Study xviii
Digital Resources xix
About the Authors xxiv
Unit 1 Introduction
Number Systems and Conversion 1
Objectives 1
Study Guide 2
1.1 Digital Systems and Switching Circuits 6
1.2 Number Systems and Conversion 8
1.3 Binary Arithmetic 12
1.4 Representation of Negative Numbers 16
Sign and Magnitude Numbers 16
2’s Complement Numbers 16
Addition of 2’s Complement Numbers 17
1’s Complement Numbers 19
Addition of 1’s Complement Numbers 19
1.5 Binary Codes 21
Problems 24
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vi Contents
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Contents vii
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viii Contents
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Contents ix
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x Contents
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Contents xi
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xii Contents
References 785
Index 786
Description of the CD 792
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Preface
xiii
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xiv Preface
circuits. Starting from a problem statement, they will learn to design circuits of logic
gates that have a specified relationship between signals at the input and output ter-
minals. Then they will study the logical properties of flip-flops, which serve as mem-
ory devices in sequential switching circuits. By combining flip-flops with circuits of
logic gates, they will learn to design counters, adders, sequence detectors, and simi-
lar circuits. They will also study the VHDL hardware description language and its
application to the design of combinational logic, sequential logic, and simple digital
systems.
As integrated circuit technology continues to improve to allow more components
on a chip, digital systems continue to grow in complexity. Design of such complex
systems is facilitated by the use of a hardware description language such as VHDL.
This text introduces the use of VHDL in logic design and emphasizes the relation-
ship between VHDL statements and the corresponding digital hardware. VHDL
allows digital hardware to be described and simulated at a higher level before it is
implemented with logic components. Computer programs for synthesis can convert
a VHDL description of a digital system to a corresponding set of logic components
and their interconnections. Even though use of such computer-aided design tools
helps to automate the logic design process, we believe that it is important to under-
stand the underlying logic components and their timing before writing VHDL code.
By first implementing the digital logic manually, students can more fully appreciate
the power and limitations of VHDL.
Although the technology used to implement digital systems has changed signifi-
cantly since the first edition of this text was published, the fundamental principles of
logic design have not. Truth tables and state tables still are used to specify the behav-
ior of logic circuits, and Boolean algebra is still a basic mathematical tool for logic
design. Even when programmable logic devices (PLDs) are used instead of indi-
vidual gates and flip-flops, reduction of logic equations is still desirable in order to fit
the equations into smaller PLDs. Making a good state assignment is still desirable,
because without a good assignment, the logic equations may require larger PLDs.
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Preface xv
are similar to a conventional textbook. When you complete a unit, you should
review the objectives and make sure that you have met them. Each of the units has
undergone extensive class testing in a self-paced environment and has been revised
based on student feedback.
The study units are divided into three main groups. The first 9 units treat Boolean
algebra and the design of combinational logic circuits. Units 11 through 16, 18, and
19 are mainly concerned with the analysis and design of clocked sequential logic
circuits, including circuits for arithmetic operations. Units 10, 17, and 20 introduce the
VHDL hardware description language and its application to logic design.
The text is suitable for both computer science and engineering students. Material
relating to circuit aspects of logic gates is contained in Appendix A so that this mate-
rial can conveniently be omitted by computer science students or other students
with no background in electronic circuits. The text is organized so that Unit 6 on the
Quine-McCluskey procedure may be omitted without loss of continuity. The three
units on VHDL can be studied in the normal sequence, studied together after the
other units, or omitted entirely.
Instructor Resources
An instructor’s solution manual (ISM) is available that includes suggestions for
using the text in a standard or self-paced course, quizzes on each of the units, and
suggestions for laboratory equipment and procedures. The instructor’s manual also
contains solutions to problems, to unit quizzes, and to lab exercises.
The ISM is available online via a secure, password-protected Instructor’s
Resource Center at http://login.cengage.com. The Instructor’s Resource Center also
includes Lecture Note PowerPoints and Image Banks for this title.
Student Resources
Since the computer plays an important role in the logic design process, integration of
computer usage into the first logic design course is very important. A computer-aided
logic design program, called LogicAid, is included on the CD that accompanies this
text. LogicAid allows the student to easily derive simplified logic equations from
minterms, truth tables, and state tables. This relieves the student of some of the more
tedious computations and permits the solution of more complex design problems in
a shorter time. LogicAid also provides tutorial help for Karnaugh maps and deriva-
tion of state graphs.
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xvi Preface
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Preface xvii
Acknowledgments
To be effective, a book designed for self-study cannot simply be written. It must
be tested and revised many times to achieve its goals. We wish to express our
appreciation to the many professors, proctors, and students who participated in this
process. Special thanks go to Dr. David Brown, who helped teach the self-paced
course, and who made many helpful suggestions for improving the fifth edition.
Special thanks to graduate teaching assistant, Mark Story, who developed many new
problems and solutions for the fifth edition and who offered many suggestions for
improving the consistency and clarity of the presentation.
The authors especially thank the most recent reviewers of the text. Among
others, they are
Clark Guest, University of California, San Diego
Jayantha Herath, St. Cloud State University
Nagarajan Kandasamy, Drexel University
Avinash Karanth Kodi, Ohio University
Jacob Savir, Newark College of Engineering
Melissa C. Smith, Clemson University
Larry M. Stephens, University of South Carolina
We would also like to thank the Global Engineering team at Cengage for their
dedication to this book:
Timothy Anderson, Product Director; MariCarmen Constable, Learning Designer;
Alexander Sham, Associate Content Manager; Andrew Reddish, Product Assistant;
and Rose Kernan of RPK Editorial Services, Inc.
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
How to Use This Book
for Self-Study
If you wish to learn all of the material in this text to mastery level, the following
study procedures are recommended for each unit:
1. Read the Objectives of the unit. These objectives provide a concise summary of
what you should be able to do when you complete studying the unit.
2. Work through the Study Guide. After reading each section of the text, write out
the answers to the corresponding study guide questions. In many cases, blank
spaces are left in the study guide so that you can write your answers directly in
this book. By doing this, you will have the answers conveniently available for
later review. The study guide questions generally will help emphasize some of
the important points in each section or will guide you to a better understanding
of some of the more difficult points. If you cannot answer some of the study
guide questions, this indicates that you need to study the corresponding section
in the text more before proceeding. The answers to selected study guide ques-
tions are given in the back of this book; answers to the remaining questions
generally can be found within the text.
3. Several of the units (Units 3, 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, and 18) contain one or more pro-
grammed exercises. Each programmed exercise will guide you step-by-step
through the solution of one of the more difficult types of problems encountered
in this text. When working through a programmed exercise, be sure to write
down your answer for each part in the space provided before looking at the
answer and continuing with the next part of the exercise.
4. Work the assigned Problems at the end of the unit. Check your answers against
those at the end of the book and rework any problems that you missed.
5. Reread the Objectives of the unit to make sure that you can meet all of them. If
in doubt, review the appropriate sections of the text.
6. If you are using this text in a self-paced course, you will need to pass a readi-
ness test on each unit before proceeding with the next unit. The purpose of the
readiness test is to make sure that you have mastered the objectives of one unit
before moving on to the next unit. The questions on the test will relate directly
to the objectives of the unit, so that if you have worked through the study guide
and written out answers to all of the study guide questions and to the problems
assigned in the study guide, you should have no difficulty passing the test.
xviii
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Digital Resources
xix
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xx Digital Resources
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Digital Resources xxi
• Expanded Problems
Additional sections have been added to select problems that require students to
show their intermediate work instead of only giving the final answer. These sections
provide students with important checkpoints so that they can identify the specific
parts of the problem they are struggling with.
• My Class Insights
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students can quickly identify which concepts they have mastered and which areas
they may need to spend more time on.
• Ask Your Teacher
This powerful feature enables students to contact their instructor with questions
about a specific assignment or problem they are working on.
MindTap Reader
Available via WebAssign and our digital subscription service, Cengage Unlimited,
MindTap Reader is Cengage’s next-generation eBook for engineering students.
The MindTap Reader provides more than just text learning for the student. It offers
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• Personalize their experience
Within the MindTap Reader, students can h ighlight key concepts, add notes, and
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study guide when it comes time to study for exams.
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xxii Digital Resources
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Digital Resources xxiii
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About the Authors
xxiv
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UNIT
Introduction
1 Number Systems
and Conversion
Objectives
1. Introduction
The first part of this unit introduces the material to be studied later. In addition
to getting an overview of the material in the first part of the course, you should
be able to explain
a. The difference between analog and digital systems and why digital systems
are capable of greater accuracy
b. The difference between combinational and sequential circuits
c. Why two-valued signals and binary numbers are commonly used in digital
systems
2. Number systems and conversion
When you complete this unit, you should be able to solve the following types
of problems:
a. Given a positive integer, fraction, or mixed number in any base (2 through 16);
convert to any other base. Justify the procedure used by using a power series
expansion for the number.
b. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive binary numbers. Explain the
addition and subtraction process in terms of carries and borrows.
c. Write negative binary numbers in sign and magnitude, 1’s complement, and
2’s complement forms. Add signed binary numbers using 1’s complement
and 2’s complement arithmetic. Justify the methods used. State when an
overflow occurs.
d. Represent a decimal number in binary-coded-decimal (BCD), 6-3-1-1 code,
excess-3 code, etc. Given a set of weights, construct a weighted code.
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2 Unit 1
Study Guide
1. Study Section 1.1, Digital Systems and Switching Circuits, and answer the follow-
ing study questions:
(a) What is the basic difference between analog and digital systems?
(b) Why are digital systems capable of greater accuracy than analog systems?
2. Study Section 1.2, Number Systems and Conversion. Answer the following study
questions as you go along:
(a) Is the first remainder obtained in the division method for base conversion
the most or least significant digit?
(b) Work through all of the examples in the text as you encounter them and
make sure that you understand all of the steps.
(c) An easy method for conversion between binary and hexadecimal is illus-
trated in Equation (1-1). Why should you start forming the groups of four
bits at the binary point instead of the left end of the number?
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Number Systems and Conversion 3
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4 Unit 1
(b) State two different ways of forming the 1’s complement of an n-bit binary
number.
(c) State three different ways of forming the 2’s complement of an n-bit binary
number.
(d) If the word length is n = 4 bits (including sign), what decimal number does
10002 represent in sign and magnitude?
In 2’s complement?
In 1’s complement?
(e) Given a negative number represented in 2’s complement, how do you find
its magnitude?
(f ) If the word length is 6 bits (including sign), what decimal number does
1000002 represent in sign and magnitude?
In 2’s complement?
In 1’s complement?
(g) What is meant by an overflow? How can you tell that an overflow has
occurred when performing 1’s or 2’s complement addition?
Does a carry out of the last bit position indicate that an overflow has
occurred?
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Number Systems and Conversion 5
(h) Work out some examples of 1’s and 2’s complement addition for various
combinations of positive and negative numbers.
(i) What is the justification for using the end-around carry in 1’s complement
addition?
(j) The one thing that causes the most trouble with 2’s complement numbers
is the special case of the negative number which consists of a 1 followed
by all 0’s (1000 . . . 000). If this number is n bits long, what number does it
represent and why? (It is not negative zero.)
(b) Verify that the 6-3-1-1 code is a weighted code. Note that for some decimal
digits, two different code combinations could have been used. For example,
either 0101 or 0110 could represent 4. In each case the combination with
the smaller binary value has been used.
(c) How is the excess-3 code obtained?
(d) How are the ASCII codes for the decimal digits obtained? What is the rela-
tion between the ASCII codes for the capital letters and lowercase letters?
7. If you are taking this course on a self-paced basis, you will need to pass a readi-
ness test on this unit before going on to the next unit. The purpose of the readi-
ness test is to determine if you have mastered the material in this unit and are
ready to go on to the next unit. Before you take the readiness test:
(a) Check your answers to the problems against those provided at the end of
this book. If you missed any of the problems, make sure that you under-
stand why your answer is wrong and correct your solution.
(b) Make sure that you can meet all of the objectives listed at the beginning
of this unit.
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Introduction
Number Systems
and Conversion
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Number Systems and Conversion 7
to form a gate, flip-flop, or other logic building block. Most contemporary circuit
design is done in integrated circuit form using appropriate computer-aided design
tools to lay out and interconnect the components on a chip of silicon. This book is
largely devoted to a study of logic design and the theory necessary for understand-
ing the logic design process. Some aspects of system design are treated in Units 18
and 20. Circuit design of logic gates is discussed briefly in Appendix A.
Many of a digital system’s subsystems take the form of a switching circuit
(Figure 1-1). A switching circuit has one or more inputs and one or more outputs
which take on discrete values. In this text, we will study two types of switching
circuits—combinational and sequential. In a combinational circuit, the output values
depend only on the present value of the inputs and not on past values. In a sequential
circuit, the outputs depend on both the present and past input values. In other words,
in order to determine the output of a sequential circuit, a sequence of input values
must be specified. The sequential circuit is said to have memory because it must
“remember” something about the past sequence of inputs, while a combinational cir-
cuit has no memory. In general, a sequential circuit is composed of a combinational
circuit with added memory elements. Combinational circuits are easier to design
than sequential circuits and will be studied first.
Figure 1-1 X1 Z1
Switching Circuit X2 Switching Z2
Inputs Outputs
Circuit
...
...
The basic building blocks used to construct combinational circuits are logic
gates. The logic designer must determine how to interconnect these gates in order
to convert the circuit input signals into the desired output signals. The relationship
between these input and output signals can be described mathematically using
Boolean algebra. Units 2 and 3 of this text introduce the basic laws and theorems of
Boolean algebra and show how they can be used to describe the behavior of circuits
of logic gates.
Starting from a given problem statement, the first step in designing a combina-
tional logic circuit is to derive a table or the algebraic logic equations which describe
the circuit outputs as a function of the circuit inputs (Unit 4). In order to design
an economical circuit to realize these output functions, the logic equations which
describe the circuit outputs generally must be simplified. Algebraic methods for this
simplification are described in Unit 3, and other simplification methods (Karnaugh
map and Quine-McCluskey procedure) are introduced in Units 5 and 6. Implemen-
tation of the simplified logic equations using several types of gates is described in
Unit 7, and alternative design procedures using programmable logic devices are
developed in Unit 9.
The basic memory elements used in the design of sequential circuits are called
flip-flops (Unit 11). These flip-flops can be interconnected with gates to form coun-
ters and registers (Unit 12). Analysis of more general sequential circuits using timing
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8 Unit 1
diagrams, state tables, and graphs is presented in Unit 13. The first step in designing
a sequential switching circuit is to construct a state table or graph which describes
the relationship between the input and output sequences (Unit 14). Methods for
going from a state table or graph to a circuit of gates and flip-flops are developed
in Unit 15. Methods of implementing sequential circuits using programmable logic
are discussed in Unit 16. In Unit 18, combinational and sequential design techniques
are applied to the realization of systems for performing binary addition, multiplica-
tion, and division. The sequential circuits designed in this text are called synchro-
nous sequential circuits because they use a common timing signal, called a clock, to
synchronize the operation of the memory elements.
Use of a hardware description language, VHDL, in the design of combinational
logic, sequential logic, and digital systems is introduced in Units 10, 17, and 20.
VHDL is used to describe, simulate, and synthesize digital hardware. After writing
VHDL code, the designer can use computer-aided design software to compile the
hardware description and complete the design of the digital logic. This allows the
completion of complex designs without having to manually work out detailed circuit
descriptions in terms of gates and flip-flops.
The switching devices used in digital systems are generally two-state devices, that
is, the output can assume only two different discrete values. Examples of switching
devices are relays, diodes, and transistors. A relay can assume two states—closed or
open—depending on whether power is applied to the coil or not. A diode can be in
a conducting state or a nonconducting state. A transistor can be in a cut-off or satu-
rated state with a corresponding high or low output voltage. Of course, transistors
can also be operated as linear amplifiers with a continuous range of output voltages,
but in digital applications greater reliability is obtained by operating them as two-
state devices. Because the outputs of most switching devices assume only two differ-
ent values, it is natural to use binary numbers internally in digital systems. For this
reason binary numbers and number systems will be discussed first before proceeding
to the design of switching circuits.
Similarly, for binary (base 2) numbers, each binary digit is multiplied by the appro-
priate power of 2:
1011.112 = 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 1 × 20 + 1 × 2 −1 + 1 × 2 −2
= 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 12 + 14 = 1134 = 11.7510
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Number Systems and Conversion 9
Note that the binary point separates the positive and negative powers of 2 just
as the decimal point separates the positive and negative powers of 10 for decimal
numbers.
Any positive integer R (R > 1) can be chosen as the radix or base of a num-
ber system. If the base is R, then R digits (0, 1, . . . , R − 1) are used. For example, if
R = 8, then the required digits are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. A number written in posi-
tional notation can be expanded in a power series in R. For example,
147.38 = 1 × 82 + 4 × 81 + 7 × 80 + 3 × 8 −1 = 64 + 32 + 7 + 3
8
= 103.37510
The power series expansion can be used to convert to any base. For example,
converting 14710 to base 3 would be written as
where all the numbers on the right-hand side are base 3 numbers. (Note: In
base 3, 10 is 101, 7 is 21, etc.) To complete the conversion, base 3 arithmetic would
be used. Of course, this is not very convenient if the arithmetic is being done by
hand. Similarly, if 14710 is being converted to binary, the calculation would be
Again this is not convenient for hand calculation but it could be done easily in a
computer where the arithmetic is done in binary. For hand calculation, use the power
series expansion when converting from some base into base 10.
For bases greater than 10, more than 10 symbols are needed to represent the
digits. In this case, letters are usually used to represent digits greater than 9. For
example, in hexadecimal (base 16), A represents 1010, B represents 1110, C represents
1210, D represents 1310, E represents 1410, and F represents 1510. Thus,
Next, we will discuss conversion of a decimal integer to base R using the division
method. The base R equivalent of a decimal integer N can be represented as
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10 Unit 1
N
= an Rn−1 + an−1Rn−2 + · · · + a2 R1 + a1 = Q1, remainder a0
R
Q1
= an Rn−2 + an−1Rn−3 + · · · + a3 R1 + a2 = Q2, remainder a1
R
Next we divide Q2 by R:
Q2
= an Rn−3 + an−1Rn−4 + · · · + a3 = Q3, remainder a2
R
This process is continued until we finally obtain an. Note that the remainder obtained
at each division step is one of the desired digits and the least significant digit is
obtained first.
2 y53
2 y26 rem. = 1 = a0
2 y13 rem. = 0 = a1
2 y6 rem. = 1 = a2 5310 = 1101012
2 y3 rem. = 0 = a3
2 y1 rem. = 1 = a4
0 rem. = 1 = a5
Multiplying by R yields
FR = a −1 + a −2 R −1 + a −3 R −2 + · · · + a −m R −m+1 = a −1 + F1
where F1 represents the fractional part of the result and a −1 is the integer part.
Multiplying F1 by R yields
F1R = a −2 + a −3 R −1 + · · · + a −m R −m+2 = a −2 + F2
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Number Systems and Conversion 11
Next, we multiply F2 by R:
F2R = a −3 + · · · + a −m R −m+3 = a −3 + F3
This process is continued until we have obtained a sufficient number of digits. Note
that the integer part obtained at each step is one of the desired digits and the most
significant digit is obtained first.
This process does not always terminate, but if it does not terminate, the result is
a repeating fraction.
.7
2
(1).4
2
(0).8
2
(1).6
2
(1).2
2
(0).4 ⟵ process starts repeating here because 0.4 was previously
2 obtained
(0).8 0.710 = 0.1 0110 0110 0110 . . . 2
Conversion between two bases other than decimal can be done directly by using
the procedures given; however, the arithmetic operations would have to be carried
out using a base other than 10. It is generally easier to convert to decimal first and
then convert the decimal number to the new base.
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12 Unit 1
231.34 = 2 × 16 + 3 × 4 + 1 + 34 = 45.7510
7 y45 .75
7y 6 rem. 3 7
0 rem. 6 ( 5 ) .25 45.7510 = 63.5151 . . . 7
7
( 1 ) .75
7
( 5 ) .25
7
( 1 ) .75
1001101.0101112 = 0100
('* 1101
('* . 0101
('* 1100
('* = 4D.5C16 (1-1)
4 D 5 C
As shown in Equation (1-1), extra 0’s are added at each end of the bit string as
needed to fill out the groups of four bits.
0+0=0
0+1=1
1+0=1
1+1=0 and carry 1 to the next column
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Number Systems and Conversion 13
1 1 1 1 ⟵ carries
1310 = 1101
1110 = 1011
11000 = 2410
0−0=0
0−1=1 and borrow 1 from the next column
1−0=1
1−1=0
Examples (a) 1←⏤ (indicates (b) 1 1 1 1←⏤ borrows (c) 1 1 1←⏤ borrows
of Binary 11101 a borrrow 10000 111001
Subtraction ‒ 10011 from the ‒ 11 ‒ 1011
1010 3rd column) 1101 101110
Note how the borrow propagates from column to column in the second example.
In order to borrow 1 from the second column, we must in turn borrow 1 from the
third column, etc. An alternative to binary subtraction is the use of 2’s complement
arithmetic, as discussed in Section 1.4.
Binary subtraction sometimes causes confusion, perhaps because we are so used
to doing decimal subtraction that we forget the significance of the borrowing pro-
cess. Before doing a detailed analysis of binary subtraction, we will review the bor-
rowing process for decimal subtraction.
If we number the columns (digits) of a decimal integer from right to left (start-
ing with 0), and then we borrow 1 from column n, what we mean is that we subtract
1 from column n and add 10 to column n − 1. Because 1 × 10n = 10 × 10n−1, the
value of the decimal number is unchanged, but we can proceed with the subtraction.
Consider, for example, the following decimal subtraction problem:
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14 Unit 1
A detailed analysis of the borrowing process for this example, indicating first a bor-
row of 1 from column 1 and then a borrow of 1 from column 2, is as follows:
−[ 1 × 101 + 8 × 100 ]
note borrow from column 2
= [(2 − 1) × 102 + (10 + 0 − 1) × 101 + 15 × 100 ]
−[ 1 × 101 + 8 × 100 ]
= [1 × 102
+ 8 × 10 1
+ 7 × 100 ] = 187
The analysis of borrowing for binary subtraction is exactly the same, except that we
work with powers of 2 instead of powers of 10. Thus for a binary number, borrowing 1
from column n is equivalent to subtracting 1 from column n and adding 2 (102) to col-
umn n − 1. The value of the binary number is unchanged because 1 × 2n = 2 × 2n−1.
A detailed analysis of binary subtraction example (c) follows. Starting with the
rightmost column, 1 − 1 = 0. To subtract in the second column, we must borrow
from the third column. Rather than borrow immediately, we place a 1 over the third
column to indicate that a borrow is necessary, and we will actually do the borrowing
when we get to the third column. (This is similar to the way borrow signals might
propagate in a computer.) Now because we have borrowed 1, the second column
becomes 10, and 10 − 1 = 1. In order to borrow 1 from the third column, we must
borrow 1 from the fourth column (indicated by placing a 1 over column 4). Column 3
then becomes 10, subtracting off the borrow yields 1, and 1 − 0 = 1. Now in column 4,
we subtract off the borrow leaving 0. In order to complete the subtraction, we must
borrow from column 5, which gives 10 in column 4, and 10 − 1 = 1.
The multiplication table for binary numbers is
0×0=0
0×1=0
1×0=0
1×1=1
The following example illustrates multiplication of 1310 by 1110 in binary:
1101
1011
1101
1101
0000
1101
10001111 = 14310
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Number Systems and Conversion 15
Note that each partial product is either the multiplicand (1101) shifted over the
appropriate number of places or is zero.
When adding up long columns of binary numbers, the sum of the bits in a single
column can exceed 112, and therefore the carry to the next column can be greater
than 1. For example, if a single column of bits contains five 1’s, then adding up the
1’s gives 1012, which means that the sum bit for that column is 1, and the carry to
the next column is 102. When doing binary multiplication, a common way to avoid
carries greater than 1 is to add in the partial products one at a time as illustrated by
the following example:
1111 multiplicand
1101 multiplier
1111 first partial product
0000 second partial product
(01111) sum of first two partial products
1111 third partial product
(1001011) sum after adding third partial product
1111 fourth partial product
11000011 final product (sum after adding fourth partial product)
1101
∣
1011 10010001
1011
1110
1011
1101 The quotient is 1101 with a remainder
1011 of 10.
10
Binary division is similar to decimal division, except it is much easier because the
only two possible quotient digits are 0 and 1. In the above example, if we start by
comparing the divisor (1011) with the upper four bits of the dividend (1001), we find
that we cannot subtract without a negative result, so we move the divisor one place
to the right and try again. This time we can subtract 1011 from 10010 to give 111 as a
result, so we put the first quotient bit of 1 above 10010. We then bring down the next
dividend bit (0) to get 1110 and shift the divisor right. We then subtract 1011 from
1110 to get 11, so the second quotient bit is 1. When we bring down the next dividend
bit, the result is 110, and we cannot subtract the shifted divisor, so the third quotient
bit is 0. We then bring down the last dividend bit and subtract 1011 from 1101 to get
a final remainder of 10, and the last quotient bit is 1.
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16 Unit 1
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Number Systems and Conversion 17
a negative number, −N, is represented by its 2’s complement, N*. If the word length
is n bits, the 2’s complement of a positive integer N is defined as
N* = 2n − N (1-2)
(Note that in this equation all numbers N, 2n, and N* are treated as unsigned posi-
tive numbers; if they are expressed in binary, n + 1 bits are required to represent 2n.)
Table 1-1 shows the result for n = 4. In Table 1-1, the 2’s complement representation
of negative numbers −1 through −7 can be obtained by taking the 2’s complement
of positive numbers 1 through 7 (i.e., by subtracting from 16). For example, the 2’s
complement of 5 is 16 − 5 = 11 or, using binary numbers, (10000) − (0101) = (1011).
After completing the subtractions, all combinations of 4-bits have been used to rep-
resent the numbers −7, . . . , −1, 0, 1, . . . 7; the only unused combination is 1000. Since
the leftmost bit of 1000 is 1, it should be a negative number. To determine its magni-
tude, note that the magnitude of a negative number can be obtained by taking its 2’s
complement; that is, from Equation (1-2),
N = 2n − N* (1-3)
Applying Equation (1-3) to 1000 produces (10000) − (1000) = (1000) or, in decimal,
16 − 8 = 8. Hence, 1000 represents −8. In general, in an n-bit 2’s complement system
the number 1 followed by all 0’s represents −2(n−1).
Using Equation (1-2) directly on binary numbers requires subtraction of n + 1
bit numbers. This can be avoided by noting that Equation (1-2) can be written as
N* = (2n − 1 − N) + 1
In binary, 2n − 1 consists of n 1’s. Subtracting a number from all 1’s does not produce
any borrows, and the subtraction can be done by replacing 0’s with 1’s and 1’s with
0’s (i.e., simply complement N bit-by-bit). For example, if n = 7 and N = 0101100,
2n − 1 = 1111111
− 0101100
1010011
+ 0000001
N* = 1010100
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18 Unit 1
except when an overflow occurs. When the word length is n bits, we say that an over-
flow has occurred if the correct representation of the sum (including sign) requires
more than n bits. The different cases which can occur are illustrated below for n = 4.
1. Addition of two positive numbers, sum < 2n−1
+3 0011
+4 0100
+7 0111 (correct answer)
+5 0101
+6 0110
1011 ⟵ wrong answer because of overflow (+11 requires
5 bits including sign)
−5 1011
+6 0110
+1 (1)0001 ⟵ correct answer when the carry from the sign bit
is ignored (this is not an overflow)
−3 1101
−4 1100
−7 (1)1001 ⟵ correct answer when the last carry is ignored
(this is not an overflow)
−5 1011
−6 1010
(1)0101 ⟵ wrong answer because of overflow
(−11 requires 5 bits including sign)
Note that an overflow condition (cases 2 and 6) is easy to detect because in case 2 the
addition of two positive numbers yields a negative result, and in case 6 the addition
of two negative numbers yields a positive answer (for four bits).
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Number Systems and Conversion 19
The proof that throwing away the carry from the sign bit always gives the correct
answer follows for cases 4 and 5:
Case 4: −A + B (where B > A)
A* + B = (2n − A) + B = 2n + (B − A) > 2n
Throwing away the last carry is equivalent to subtracting 2n, so the result is (B − A),
which is correct.
Case 5: −A − B (where A + B ≤ 2n−1)
A* + B* = (2n − A) + (2n − B) = 2n + 2n − (A + B)
Discarding the last carry yields 2n − (A + B) = (A + B)*, which is the correct rep-
resentation of −(A + B).
N = (2n − 1) − N (1-4)
As explained above, (2n − 1) consists of all 1’s, and subtracting a bit from 1 is the
same as complementing the bit. Hence, the 1’s complement of N can be obtained
by complementing N bit-by-bit. Table 1-1 illustrates 1’s complement for n = 4. Note
that the 1’s complement of 0000 is 1111, which represents minus zero. Note that 1’s
complement has two representations of 0, as does sign and magnitude.
+5 0101
−6 1001
−1 1110 (correct answer)
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CHAPTER XII
A PARTING OF WAYS
For a while Ben and Posey rode along almost in silence over the
roads beaten smooth and clean by the heavy shower, while the
wayside ditches were still noisy little rills, and the trees shook down
showers of raindrops with every passing breeze.
Posey, in spite of herself, could not help a sorrowful feeling of
discouragement at the failure of her first effort at home-finding. Not
so much for the refusal itself, though she felt that to live with such a
cheery old lady would be quite delightful, as the fear that other
attempts might be equally useless.
Ben, flicking his big bay horse softly with the tassel of his whip,
was evidently in a brown study. At last he turned to Posey, saying,
“I’ve been thinking what you had better do. I can’t take you home
with me—as I wish I could, for really I haven’t any home except as
Uncle John gives me one, and that’s forty miles from here and I don’t
expect to get there for a month or more; besides the house is so full
that Aunt Eunice hardly knows where to put us all as it is.”
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to make a home for me!” cried Posey.
“I’d like to. But last spring the man whose route it was on was sick,
so I went over into Farmdale for one trip, and there I saw such a nice
old lady, nicer if anything than the one we just stopped with. I guess
she took a fancy to me, for she wanted to know if I had a sister. Said
she wished she could find a real nice little girl to live with her, and
asked me if I knew of any one I thought would suit her. Now,
Byfield’s the next town, and Farmdale is only seven miles from there,
and I believe I’ll drive over there with you to-night and see her.
Maybe I can pick up some rags on the way, and I know Mr. Bruce
won’t care when I tell him about it.”
Posey at once agreed, and the faint anxiety that had begun to rise
in her mind as to what she would do when it came night was at once
swept away, for in Ben Pancost and his ability she had unlimited
faith.
When they reached the straggling little railroad station of Byfield,
Ben said he must go to the store and take on what paper rags had
been gathered in since his last trip, and he left Posey to wait for him
at Byfield’s one small hotel while he did this.
It seemed to Posey that Ben was gone a long, long time, and
when at last he appeared it was with a very sober face. “I’m awful
sorry, Posey,” were his first words, “but when I got over to the store I
found a telegram there from Mr. Bruce to come to Cleveland as quick
as I could. He’s sent for me that way before and I know what it
means. He’s got an order for rags and hasn’t enough on hand to fill
it. I just looked at to-day’s market report in the paper and it gave
paper rags as ‘heavy with a downward tendency,’ so I suppose Mr.
Bruce is afraid of a big drop and wants to get his off at once. I’ve
agreed with a man here to change horses till I come back. It’s four
o’clock now and with a fresh horse I can get to Cleveland by ten or
eleven, then the rags can be shipped in the morning, and a day’s
delay may make a big difference to Mr. Bruce.”
“I see,” murmured Posey.
“So you see why I can’t go with you to Farmdale, as I was going
to. But I’ll tell you how I’ve planned it. I’ve agreed with the landlady
for you to stay here all night, and there’s a stage runs to Farmdale
to-morrow that you can go over in. The worst of it is I don’t know the
nice old lady’s name or where she lives, for she wasn’t in her own
home when I saw her. But they called her ‘aunt’ at the place she
was, so they will be sure to know all about her, and I can tell you just
where that is. The village is built around the prettiest green you ever
saw. You go up on the west side till you come to a story-and-half
white house with green blinds, and big lilac bushes at the gate;
there’s a sign over the front door, ‘Millinery, and Dressmaking,’ so
you can’t miss the place.
“There were two ladies there, not young or really old, but sort o’
between like, you know. They were nice, too. Why, what do you think
one of them did? I had torn my coat on the wagon and she mended it
for me. Wasn’t that good? And I know they’ll be good to you. Just tell
them I sent you, and as soon as I come back I’ll come and see how
you are getting along. I’m awful sorry things have happened this
way, but I don’t see what else I can do.”
Ben had talked very fast, and as Posey listened she was
conscious that a lump was rising higher and higher in her throat. “It’s
all right, Ben,” Posey tried to speak with forced cheerfulness. “Only it
seems as though I’d known you always, and I don’t quite know what
to do without you,” and with all her effort her voice trailed off in a
quiver.
“Why, that’s so,” Ben’s tone was emphatic. “It does seem as
though we had always known each other, don’t it?”
“And you’ve been so good to me,” Posey continued. “I shall never
forget it, Ben, never! This has been the happiest day I ever knew.”
“Shucks!” exclaimed Ben, his own voice a trifle husky. “I haven’t
done anything but let you ride on the tin-cart; that wasn’t much, I’m
sure. Besides I’ve enjoyed it as much as you have.”
“Oh, but you have been good to me,” she repeated. “You came to
me when I hadn’t anybody in the whole world, and I was feeling so
badly that I almost wanted to die. Except my mamma nobody in all
my life was ever so good to me, not even dear Mr. Hagood, and I
shall remember it always.”
“I wish I could have done more for you; and here—” slipping a
couple of silver dollars into her hand—“is a little money for your
stage fare, and anything else you may need. I’ve settled with the
landlady for your staying here to-night.”
“I sha’n’t take it, Ben,” Posey protested, as she tried to force the
money back. “You’ve paid for my dinner, and now for to-night, and
you have to work hard for your money. I sha’n’t take it, indeed I
sha’n’t. I can walk to Farmdale to-morrow as well as not.”
“Shucks!” retorted Ben more emphatically than before. “You won’t
do anything of the kind. Besides I’m going to adopt you for my sister,
and brothers ought to take care of their sisters. When I get a raise in
my salary I’ll send you to a fashionable boarding school. But I must
be off, only I feel dreadfully to leave you so.”
“Never mind,” said Posey bravely. “You said God took care of me
to-day, perhaps He will to-morrow.”
“That’s so,” answered Ben. “You and I’ll both ask Him, and I know
He will. And I’ll be around to Farmdale to see you by next week,
sure; so good-by till then.” And squeezing Posey’s hand till it would
have brought tears to her eyes had they not been there already, he
hurried away, while Posey stood at the window and watched the red
cart, a grotesque object, with its dangling fringe of old rubber boots,
the sacks of rags piled high on top and hiding from her view the
driver, as it went down the street and slowly lessened in the
distance. Then she turned away with a sigh, for Ben Pancost had
passed beyond her sight.
With his going the brightness seemed to fade from the day. The
fallen leaves of a maple before the hotel drifted with a dreary little
rustle in the rising wind. The floor of the room was covered with
oilcloth on which her chair, whenever she moved it, made a mournful
sound that increased her sense of loneliness. The long dining-room
looked empty and forlorn when she answered the summons to
supper and found herself and a traveller out of temper, because he
had missed his train, its only occupants.
As the dusk deepened, Posey heard the merry voices of children
in the street, but she herself felt strangely old and unchildlike with a
burden of anxiety resting on her, and the memory of trouble and care
and perplexity rising like a cloud behind her. A kitten came capering
into the room; she coaxed it to her and tried to cuddle the ball of fur
in her arms, feeling even that companionship would be something;
but the kitten was of a roving nature and had rather have its own
frolicsome way than her tending. When the kerosene lamp was
brought in it smoked, and through the dingy chimney the big figured
paper and the cheap chromos on the wall looked more staring than
before. Posey during her years with Madam Sharpe had known a
varied experience with the parlors of cheap hotels and boarding-
houses with their threadbare carpets and shabby, broken-springed
furniture, but she was sure that she never saw so cheerless a room
as that of the Byfield hotel.
No doubt after all Posey had been through in the last twenty-four
hours a reaction was sooner or later bound to come. So it was not
strange that she should suddenly have become conscious of being
very, very tired, as well as exceedingly sleepy, and before eight
o’clock she asked to be shown to her room, where she soon fell
asleep with Ben Pancost’s silver dollars clasped close in her hand
against her cheek. For those dollars stood to her not only as actual
value, but as kindliness and helpfulness, the sole friendship she had
to rest on a friend near and human, while that of God, whose care for
the morrow she had duly remembered to ask, seemed to her heavy
little heart as far off and mysterious.
When Posey woke the next morning after a long, dreamless sleep,
she started up as if expecting to hear Mrs. Hagood’s voice calling
her, and a dog she heard barking outside she thought for a moment
was Rover. But her unfamiliar surroundings quickly brought to her all
that had happened, and she lay back on her pillow with a feeling of
surprise that it should all be true. “I wonder what will happen to me
to-day, and where I shall be to-night?” she said to herself. “But Ben
said he knew God would take care of me,” and Ben’s faith became
her confidence.
With morning, too, the world looked decidedly brighter than it had
the evening before; she had a good appetite for her breakfast, and
when the landlady who served the table in person explained that the
table waiter went away to a dance and hadn’t come back, and the
cook was sick that morning, and she had everything to do and didn’t
know which way to turn, Posey at once offered to help. “The stage
doesn’t go for a long time yet, and I’d just as soon wash the dishes
as not,” and following out into the kitchen she was soon plunged in a
pan of foamy suds.
“You are good help,” was the landlady’s comment. “My husband’s
dead and I have the whole business to see to, and the profit isn’t
much, but I’ll give you a dollar a week to wash dishes if you’ll stay
with me.”
Posey hesitated; work was what she wanted, but the landlady’s
voice had a sharp accent and there were fretty wrinkles between her
eyes. “I promised to go to an old lady in Farmdale,” she answered
after a moment, “but if I don’t get a place there I’ll come back to you.”
Posey had taken pains to shake and brush out the dust and all she
could of the disorder from her clothes. Before stage time she
repacked the contents of her bundle, and begging a newspaper and
string made it into a neat looking package, and when the stage
started out it was a tidy little figure that occupied a corner of the back
seat. The ride to Farmdale through the pleasant country roads was
all too short for Posey, who once more found herself among
strangers, a solitary waif.
CHAPTER XIII
A DOOR OPENS
A great lilac bush stood on each side of the small white gate by
which she entered, while syringas, flowering quince, and thickets of
roses gave promise of springtime bloom. The narrow, stone-flagged
walk that led to the side door was fringed with flowers, and ran along
the edge of a grassy bank or low terrace, below which were more
flower beds bordered with China pinks, besides homelier beds of
garden vegetables, while under sheltering rows of currant bushes a
flock of white chickens rolled in the dirt at their ease. Beyond the
house lay an orchard, and the side porch at which the walk ended
was shaded by a great grapevine heavy with purple clusters. A
Maltese cat, sunning itself in sleepy content on the steps, roused as
she came up and rubbed against her with a friendly purr. Over all the
sunny little homestead rested an air of thrift, order, peace, that filled
Posey with a sense of restfulness; why she could hardly have told.
Her knock on the green-paneled door was answered by Miss
Silence Blossom, one of the two whom Ben Pancost had described
as “not young, or really old,” but with the brightness of youth still
lingering in her eyes and her smile. The room into which she led
Posey was large and sunny with windows facing the south. In one
corner was an open sewing machine from which she had evidently
just risen. In another corner stood a square table covered with boxes
of flowers and ribbons beside which trimming a bonnet sat Mrs.
Patience Bird, a younger sister of Miss Silence, her sweet, gentle
face touched by a shade of sadness, reflected in the mourning dress
she still wore for the young husband whose picture was in the little
pin at her throat. Behind the low chair in which she sat was a tall
case with long glass doors, filled with ribbons, flowers, and hats, all
in orderly array, for though this was the work-room of busy workers
there was no trace of litter or confusion.
Mrs. Blossom, the mother, with a strong but kindly face, was
watering a stand of house plants. She, too, was a widow, but of more
than half a lifetime. The years when she had gathered her fatherless
children around her and, still a young woman, taken up a life alone
and bravely for herself and them had left their lines of energy,
decision, and firmness. And, last of the family group, in a large
armchair by one of the sunny windows with some white knitting in
her hands, sat an old lady, whose peaceful face not less than her
drab dress, close white cap, and snowy, folded kerchief, told that she
was of the Quaker faith.
Posey took the chair offered her, suddenly embarrassed and shy
under the gaze of so many questioning eyes, and at last stammered
abruptly, “Ben said you would know where the old lady lived.”
“Ben who; and what old lady?” demanded Miss Silence, who in
spite of her name was the talker of the family.
“Why, the nice old lady who wants a girl to live with her. And you
know Ben; he’s the boy who drives the red tin peddler’s cart.”
“I know who she means,” spoke Mrs. Patience. “It is the boy who
came here last summer that Aunt Maria Ames took such a fancy to,
and asked him if he hadn’t a sister to live with her. I think,” to her
mother, “you and Grandmother were away that day. Don’t you
remember, Silence, you mended his coat for him?”
By this time Posey had found her tongue. “Yes,” she hastened to
add, “Ben said you did. He said he knew you were the best kind of
Christians.”
Mrs. Blossom smiled. “I hope Ben was right, though that seems to
have been a case of judging faith by works.”
“Well, Ben Pancost knows,” asserted Posey stoutly.
“He certainly impressed me as a very good boy,” said Miss
Silence, “truthful, frank, and manly. And so you wanted to come and
live with Mrs. Ames?”
“Yes, ma’am, Ben was almost sure she would let me.”
“That is too bad, for she has gone to Chicago to spend the winter
with her daughter.”
Posey’s face clouded with dismay. She had trusted implicitly to
Ben. What should she do if his plan for her failed?
Mrs. Blossom saw the look. “What is your name?” she asked.
“Posey.”
“And whose Posey?” Mrs. Patience questioned looking up from
her work with a gentle smile.
“Nobody’s,” was the mournful answer.
“And where is your home?” continued Mrs. Blossom.
“Nowhere,” answered Posey, a great sense of her forlornness
rushing over her and filling her eyes with tears.
“Now, see here,” Miss Silence’s tone was brisk and incisive; “you
want to tell the truth. Everybody has a surname and lives
somewhere.”
“I have told the truth,” protested Posey hotly. “I haven’t anybody or
any home anywhere.”
“But where have you been living?”
Now Posey had gathered from Ben Pancost’s manner that while
he personally approved of her running away from Mrs. Hagood, he
was doubtful of the impression it might make on others, and she had
resolved to be very discreet and tell as little of that part of her story
as possible. But her indignation at the implication of untruthfulness
overmastered her prudence and she answered, “If you want to know
where I’ve lived I can tell you. I’ve lived with a clairvoyant medium,
and I’ve lived at the Refuge in Cleveland, and the last place I’ve lived
was with a Mrs. Hagood in Horsham.”
“Why, Horsham is twenty miles from here.”
“I wish it was twenty million miles.”
“But why?”
“Because,” her voice rising shrill with passion, “Mrs. Hagood was
horrid to me, and I ran away from her, I did; and I don’t care who
knows it, I don’t; and I’ll never go back to her for anybody, never,” her
cheeks flushing and her eyes flashing through her tears.
“In what way was Mrs. Hagood horrid to you?” questioned Mrs.
Blossom.
For answer Posey tore open her collar and rolled up her sleeves
showing the marks still visible on her neck and arms. It needed now
hardly an inquiry to bring out the whole story, in which she omitted
neither what she had said to Mrs. Hagood nor the bite she had given
her hand. “And I’ll starve and die before I’ll go back to her,” she
added in conclusion.
“It’s a burning shame to treat a child like that, I don’t care what she
had done!” exclaimed Miss Silence. And Mrs. Patience added in her
gentle tone, “Poor child! wouldn’t you like something to eat?” for Mrs.
Patience had the idea that children were in a perpetual state of
hunger.
“Was this Mrs. Hagood always cruel to you?” questioned Mrs.
Blossom.
Posey hesitated a moment. “No, ma’am, I guess not. She gave me
plenty to eat, but she scolded me from morning till night, and wanted
me to work every minute. If she wasn’t always cruel she was never
kind—” She paused and looked from face to face—“and now I’m
away from her I’m going to stay away. The landlady at the hotel at
Byfield will give me a dollar a week to wash dishes, but I wish you
knew of some other place where I could live. I’d do everything I could
to help, and I’d be real good. I’m not bad always, indeed I’m not.”
She did not say, “If I might only stay here,” but her wistful eyes
expressed the unspoken wish.
“Silence,” Mrs. Blossom spoke quickly, “will you go out in the
orchard and get some sweet apples to bake; and Posey can go with
you.”
“Now, mother,” Miss Silence laid down in her lap the work she
held, “I don’t think it’s quite fair to send the child away while you and
Grandmother talk her over, for she knows as well as I that’s what you
would do. There’s only one thing I shall consent to—that she stay
here till a suitable place is found for her.”
“Thee will always be the same impulsive, impetuous Silence as
long as thee lives.” Grandmother Sweet’s face crinkled in a smile.
Though an attentive listener she had not spoken before. She turned
to her daughter, “I have nothing to say for my part, Elizabeth, that the
young girl might not hear, indeed that I would not prefer she should
hear.
“And in the first place, my dear,” to Posey, “thee is not free from
blame thyself; from thy own words thee has failed in duty to one
older than thyself, and yielded to the angry passion of thine own
heart, and thus, it well may be, has failed of the lesson God meant
for thee. For always remember, child, God puts us in no place he will
not give us strength to fill, or sends us no trial that will not be for our
good if rightly endured. At the same time if thy story is true, and thee
has a truthful look, I do not think thee has been justly or rightly
treated, or that thy return would be wise or best.”
Then turning again to her daughter, “The leading of the Lord
seems to have brought her to our door. What is thy mind, Elizabeth?”
“Thee has spoken it exactly,” answered Mrs. Blossom, who often
used the Friends’ language in talking with her mother. “As thee says,
she seems to have been led to us, and I hope the time will never
come when any of God’s children find ours a closed door.”
“Oh, if you will let me stay I’ll do my very best!” cried Posey. “Do
you know I said yesterday that I didn’t believe God cared anything
for me, but Ben Pancost said He did, that probably God sent him to
help me then, and that He would take care of me again to-day, and I
just think He has.”
“Dear child,” and Grandmother Sweet put one of her soft,
tremulous hands on Posey’s head, “God’s love and care is over thee
always; never doubt it, even if thee has not the outward evidence.”
“I am going out to Cleveland next week for goods,” remarked Mrs.
Patience, “and I can go out to the Refuge and arrange about Posey.”
Miss Silence nodded. “Yes, and you know Cousin Allen Gloin’s
wife has a sister in Horsham; she will doubtless know of this Mrs.
Hagood.”
Posey lifted her head proudly, “I hope you will see everybody who
knows me, and ask them all about me, for then you will find that I
have told the truth.”
“We are not doubting your word,” Miss Silence assured her; “it is
on your account as well as ours that we want to learn as much as
possible.”
“All the same I want you to know that it is true,” she answered.
“And—” hesitating a little, “if you know some one in Horsham
couldn’t I send a word to Mr. Hagood? He will worry about me, I
know he will, and he was always so kind that I wish he could know
where I am and how good you are to let me stay. He won’t tell Mrs.
Hagood anything about it. I am sure he won’t.”
CHAPTER XIV
POSEY BECOMES ROSE
Thus it was that Posey, who for so long had been drifted at the
mercy of adverse currents found herself, for a time at least, in a safe
and quiet harbor. Very quickly she fell into the simple household
ways; she washed the dainty old china for Mrs. Blossom; she dusted
the carefully kept rooms; she pulled bastings and whipped edges for
Miss Silence; she ripped braid and wound ribbons for Mrs. Patience,
watching her the while as with hat-block in lap her deft fingers
“sewed over” a hat or bonnet into a different shape—for at that time
this was part of the work of a village milliner; and last but by no
means least she listened to Grandmother Sweet’s gentle counsels
and gentler admonitions. While in this atmosphere of cheer and
kindliness her young heart that had known such scant measure of
either, expanded like a flower in the sunshine.
From the first time she heard it the name Posey had been
anything but pleasing to Grandmother Sweet’s Quaker ears, and the
next day after her coming, when she had given as full an account as
she could of her varied life, the old lady began to question her.
“And now what is thy real name, my child? For surely thy mother
never gave thee ‘Posey’ for a life name.”
“I don’t know as I have any other,” answered Posey in surprise, for
it was something she had never thought of before. “My mother, I can
remember, often called me ‘Rose,’ and her ‘little Rose,’ but she
called me ‘Posey,’ too; so did my father and the neighbors, and
Madam Sharpe, and I always supposed that was all the name I had.”
“Thee can depend upon it,” was the old lady’s decided answer,
“‘Posey’ was only that foolish custom—a nickname—of which I
cannot approve.
“And as to thy surname, does thee not know that either? It seems
anything but right that thee should continue to bear—especially as it
is not thy own, the name of that wicked adventuress.”
Posey shook her head. “You know I was so little when my mother
and father died, and Madam Sharpe called me by her name from the
first. I think she wanted me to forget all I could for fear I might find
some one who would take me away from her. I know whenever I
asked her what my name was she would say she had forgotten, but I
didn’t believe her then. Lately, I have tried to remember it, but I can’t.
I know my mother’s first name was Kate, because I have her Bible,
and that is the name written in it.”
“Will thee let me see it?”
Posey at once brought the little velvet covered Bible, and the book
of child verse, now decidedly the worse for wear and age. On the fly
leaf of the Bible was primly written, “Kate, from Aunt Sarah.”
In the other book was apparently no writing, but after examining it
a moment grandmother asked, “Silence, will thee bring me a damp
sponge? If I am not mistaken a leaf has been pasted down here.”
The sponge was brought, and the page when moistened readily
lifted, proving Grandmother Sweet’s suspicion correct, and revealing
to the onlookers, written in a delicate hand,
“To Rose Shannon, on her fourth birthday, December 12th.”
“There!” Grandmother Sweet’s tone was triumphant, “now we have
thy rightful name, and thee shall be Rose to us, as thee was to thy
mother,” and she patted the curly brown head.
“But why do you suppose she pasted the leaf down instead of
tearing it out?” questioned Miss Silence.
“I think,” replied Posey, or rather Rose, “it was because the
colored picture on the other side of the leaf was a favorite of mine,
and if it was gone I would be sure to miss it.”
So it was without any purpose of her own, or a thought on the part
of any one of concealing her identity, that with the very beginning of
life under new conditions Posey Sharpe became Rose Shannon,
and, or so it seemed to her, with the old name the old life also
dropped away. Rose was delighted to possess a name that was hers
by right, that was her very own, but at first it sounded strangely
unfamiliar, and sometimes she failed to recognize it as belonging to
herself; but very soon she grew as accustomed to it as to the placid
round of the Blossom household.
In a short time Mrs. Patience made her trip to Cleveland, and
made the promised call at the Refuge. Here she found that a letter
had been received from Mrs. Hagood, full of complaints that Posey
was an idle, troublesome, ungrateful girl, who had left her for no
cause whatever; but at the same time demanding that she be sent
back at once. For Mrs. Hagood had supposed, as Rose thought, that
she would return to the Refuge. Mrs. Patience’s account, however,
put the matter in a very different light. The superintendent was
deeply indignant, and as the Blossoms had friends who were known
to him, he gladly consented that she should remain with them till a
more permanent provision could be made.
It was on this one point of Rose’s history, the cause and manner of
her leaving Mrs. Hagood, that the Blossoms decided reticence to be
best. As Mrs. Blossom said, “Mrs. Hagood is a stranger to us, and
admitting that she was at fault, it seems to me neither kind nor right
to repeat what might give others an unfavorable impression.”
Gentle Grandmother Sweet’s advice to Rose was, “The best way
to keep from speaking of it is to put it out of thy thoughts, through
that spirit of forgiveness, which we who err so often should always
be ready to show.”
Not long after Mrs. Patience’s return from the city Rose received
an offer of a home for the winter, with fifty cents a week wages, and
the privilege of attending school afternoons. As she had seldom
possessed a cent she could call her own this seemed like a small
fortune; besides, as she had told Ben Pancost, she understood more
than most of her age what it cost to live, and so was the quicker to
see that with all the Blossoms’ generous hospitality, economy was
carefully considered. For they were far from rich, this houseful of
women with no outside breadwinner to depend on, and with her
sturdy, independent nature Rose shrank from being a burden on
them, the more so because of their affectionate kindness. Miss
Silence and Mrs. Patience having taken Rose under their wing were
unwilling she should go, unless into a permanent home, but Mrs.
Blossom held that Rose should decide the question for herself,
especially as she would still be in the village where they could watch
over her. While Grandmother Sweet placidly observed, “Providence
seems to have opened the place for Rose, and the openings of
Providence are usually for some wise purpose.”
The offer had been most unexpected. Miss Fifield had come to
Silence Blossom to have a dress fitted, and in the familiar
conversation which accompanied the process she had remarked that
she and her sister were doing their work themselves as the hired girl
had gone home sick. “Of course,” she explained, “we have Ellen Gill
in to do the washing and ironing and scrubbing; not but that we could
do it all, for it was my father’s boast that his daughters were
thoroughly capable. And they all are but Eudora; she will not, and
while I’m willing to do my share I’m not willing to do mine and other
people’s too. I don’t believe Eudora would soil her hands if her life
depended on it. If you’ll believe me, Silence Blossom, she has gone
and made a mop to wash dishes with. It makes me sick, it positively
does, to see her mopping the dishes off, and lifting them out with a
fork, for fear the dishwater will make her hands rough.” And Miss
Fifield, tall, spare, and angular, who counted all attempt at personal
adornment the sign of a weak mind, gave a little sniff of contempt.
At this moment Rose came into the sitting-room to bring
Grandmother Sweet a piece of fresh sponge cake, her first triumph
in real cake-making under Mrs. Blossom. Miss Fifield through the
partly open door of the bedroom which also served as fitting-room,
regarded her neat gingham work-apron and animated, rosy face with
evident approval.
“Who is that young girl?” she asked. “I don’t remember to have
ever seen her before.”
“She is Rose Shannon,” Miss Silence answered as well as she
could with her mouth full of pins. “She came to Farmdale with the
idea that she could live with Aunt Maria Ames, and is staying with us
for the present.”
Miss Fifield prided herself on her prompt decisions, and the idea at
once occurred to her that such a tidy little handmaid would be
pleasant and useful to have.
“If she wants to she can come to us; we will give her a home, and
something besides.”
Silence Blossom was measuring Miss Fifield’s bony arm for the
sleeve. “I don’t know,” her voice dubious; “Rose was planning to go
to school when it opened next term.”
“I think we could manage for her to go afternoons; there isn’t much
to do after dinner. I suppose,” she added, “that Eudora and Brother
Nathan will object. They never agree on anything only in opposing
me, but what I undertake I intend to carry through.”
But for once Miss Fifield was mistaken, Miss Eudora heartily
agreed with the plan. She could put on gloves to sweep, and cake
and pastry making were something any lady might do with dignity;
but dish-washing even with the aid of a mop, she viewed with horror.
Furthermore, her sister refused to wash the dishes a day over half
the time.
Squire Nathan Fifield, the middle-aged brother who with the two
middle-aged sisters made up the Fifield family, caustically remarked
that he should think two able-bodied women could do the work for
themselves and one man, but if they couldn’t they would have to
settle the matter their own way. “Only,” he warned them, “it is very
likely this is the child of low-bred foreigners, and if she turns out to
be a little liar, and a thief, I want you to remember that it was you that
brought her here, not me.”
But the sisters, noways daunted by this foreboding, offered Rose
the place and, as we have seen, she accepted the offer.
CHAPTER XV
AT THE FIFIELDS’
The Fifields were the oldest family in Farmdale, and lived in the
most pretentious house. Rose had greatly admired the old home with
its high-pillared porch set behind tall hedges of prim cedar, and a
view of the interior only increased the feeling. To her eyes the claw-
footed tables and tall bedsteads with canopy tops were most
imposing; and the dimly lighted, seldom used parlor with its real lace
curtains, its carpet laid in great wreaths of roses, its gilt-framed
mirror, and its damask upholstered, mahogany furniture, was a really
magnificent apartment, including as it did the family portraits, and
Miss Eudora’s girlish efforts at painting on velvet.
Rose’s position in the family had been the subject of some
discussion, for Eudora Fifield had all her life sighed for a maid
arrayed in a white cap and apron, and it had been one of her
numerous grievances that of the array of independent spirited help
who had filed in and out of the Fifield kitchen one and all had flatly
refused to conform to such usage.
“But Rose,” she argued, “has been brought up in a city, where the
manners of the lower classes are so different. Why, when I visited
Aunt Morgan in Albany, her servants treated me with a deference
you never see here. Her parlor-maid always brought in the callers’
cards and the letters on a salver; perhaps she would be willing to do
that.”
Jane Fifield gave a snort, “As long as Nathan brings your letters in
his coat pocket and hands them to you, and we haven’t a caller once
a month, I think you won’t have much use for a salver. Besides the
Blossoms make her one of the family, and Mrs. Blossom particularly
said that she should never consent to her going to any place where
she would not be taken an interest in, but simply thought of as a little
drudge.”
Miss Eudora drew a little sigh at the vanishing of the cap and
salver, but quickly caught herself as she remembered the dish-
washing. “Well,” she admitted, “I suppose it’s better to concede some
points than not have her come at all.”