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Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology
A fully comprehensive text for courses in electrical
principles, circuit theory and electrical technology, pro-
viding 800 worked examples and over 1,350 further
problems for students to work through at their own
pace. This book is ideal for students studying engi-
neering for the first time as part of BTEC National
and other pre-degree vocational courses, as well as
Higher Nationals, Foundation Degrees and first-year
undergraduate modules.
John Bird, BSc (Hons), CEng, CSci, CMath, FITE,
FIMA, FCollT, is the former Head of Applied Electron-
ics in the Faculty of Technology at Highbury College,
Portsmouth, UK. More recently he has combined free-
lance lecturing and examining, and is the author of
over 130 textbooks on engineering and mathemati-
cal subjects with worldwide sales of over one mil-
lion copies. He is currently lecturing at the Defence
School of Marine and Air Engineering in the Defence
College of Technical Training at HMS Sultan, Gosport,
Hampshire, UK.
In Memory of Elizabeth
Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology

Sixth edition

John Bird
Sixth edition published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2017 John Bird

The right of John Bird to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification
and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Newnes 1997

Fifth edition published by Routledge 2014

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

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

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Bird, J. O., author.
Title: Electrical circuit theory and technology / John Bird.
Description: 6th ed. | New York : Routledge, [2017] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016038154| ISBN 9781138673496 | ISBN 9781315561929
Subjects: LCSH: Electric circuits. | Electrical engineering.
Classification: LCC TK454 .B48 2017 | DDC 621.319/2–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038154

ISBN: 978-1-138-67349-6 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-56192-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Times by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire

Visit the companion website: www.routledge.com/cw/bird

Contents
Preface xii 3.8 Electrical power and energy 54
3.9 Summary of terms, units and their symbols 55
Part 1 Revision of some basic 4 An introduction to electric circuits 56
mathematics 1 4.1 Standard symbols for electrical
components 57
1 Some mathematics revision 3 4.2 Electric current and quantity of
1.1 Use of calculator and evaluating formulae 4 electricity 57
1.2 Fractions 7 4.3 Potential difference and resistance 58
1.3 Percentages 8 4.4 Basic electrical measuring
1.4 Ratio and proportion 10 instruments 58
1.5 Laws of indices 13 4.5 Linear and non-linear devices 59
1.6 Brackets 16 4.6 Ohm’s law 59
1.7 Solving simple equations 16 4.7 Multiples and sub-multiples 59
1.8 Transposing formulae 19 4.8 Conductors and insulators 61
1.9 Solving simultaneous equations 21 4.9 Electrical power and energy 61
4.10 Main effects of electric current 64
2 Further mathematics revision 23
4.11 Fuses 64
2.1 Radians and degrees 24
4.12 Insulation and the dangers of constant
2.2 Measurement of angles 25
high current flow 64
2.3 Trigonometry revision 26
2.4 Logarithms and exponentials 28 5 Resistance variation 65
2.5 Straight line graphs 33 5.1 Resistor construction 66
2.6 Gradients, intercepts and equation 5.2 Resistance and resistivity 66
of a graph 35 5.3 Temperature coefficient of resistance 68
2.7 Practical straight line graphs 37 5.4 Resistor colour coding and ohmic values 70
2.8 Calculating areas of common shapes 38
6 Batteries and alternative sources of energy 73
6.1 Introduction to batteries 74
Main formulae for Part 1 Revision of some 6.2 Some chemical effects of electricity 74
basic mathematics 44
6.3 The simple cell 75
6.4 Corrosion 76
Part 2 Basic electrical engineering 6.5 E.m.f. and internal resistance of a cell 76
principles 47 6.6 Primary cells 78
6.7 Secondary cells 79
3 Units associated with basic electrical 6.8 Lithium-ion batteries 81
quantities 49 6.9 Cell capacity 84
3.1 SI units 49 6.10 Safe disposal of batteries 84
3.2 Charge 50 6.11 Fuel cells 84
3.3 Force 50 6.12 Alternative and renewable energy sources 85
3.4 Work 51 6.13 Solar energy 86
3.5 Power 52
3.6 Electrical potential and e.m.f. 53 Revision Test 1 89
3.7 Resistance and conductance 53
vi Contents

7 Series and parallel networks 90 11 Electromagnetic induction 145

7.1 Series circuits 91 11.1 Introduction to electromagnetic induction 146
7.2 Potential divider 92 11.2 Laws of electromagnetic induction 147
7.3 Parallel networks 94 11.3 Rotation of a loop in a magnetic field 150
7.4 Current division 96 11.4 Inductance 151
7.5 Loading effect 99 11.5 Inductors 152
7.6 Potentiometers and rheostats 100 11.6 Energy stored 153
7.7 Relative and absolute voltages 103 11.7 Inductance of a coil 153
7.8 Earth potential and short circuits 104 11.8 Mutual inductance 155
7.9 Wiring lamps in series and in parallel 104
12 Electrical measuring instruments and
8 Capacitors and capacitance 106 measurements 158
8.1 Introduction to capacitors 107 12.1 Introduction 159
8.2 Electrostatic field 107 12.2 Analogue instruments 159
8.3 Electric field strength 108 12.3 Shunts and multipliers 159
8.4 Capacitance 108 12.4 Electronic instruments 161
8.5 Capacitors 109 12.5 The ohmmeter 161
8.6 Electric flux density 110 12.6 Multimeters 162
8.7 Permittivity 110 12.7 Wattmeters 162
8.8 The parallel plate capacitor 111 12.8 Instrument ‘loading’ effect 162
8.9 Capacitors connected in parallel 12.9 The oscilloscope 164
and series 112 12.10 Virtual test and measuring instruments 169
8.10 Dielectric strength 116 12.11 Virtual digital storage oscilloscopes 170
8.11 Energy stored 117 12.12 Waveform harmonics 173
8.12 Practical types of capacitor 117 12.13 Logarithmic ratios 174
8.13 Supercapacitors 119 12.14 Null method of measurement 176
8.14 Discharging capacitors 121 12.15 Wheatstone bridge 177
12.16 D.c. potentiometer 177
9 Magnetic circuits 122 12.17 A.c. bridges 178
9.1 Introduction to magnetism and
12.18 Measurement errors 179
magnetic circuits 123
9.2 Magnetic fields 124 13 Semiconductor diodes 182
9.3 Magnetic flux and flux density 125 13.1 Types of material 183
9.4 Magnetomotive force and magnetic 13.2 Semiconductor materials 183
field strength 125 13.3 Conduction in semiconductor materials 185
9.5 Permeability and B–H curves 126 13.4 The p–n junction 185
9.6 Reluctance 127 13.5 Forward and reverse bias 186
9.7 Composite series magnetic circuits 129 13.6 Semiconductor diodes 189
9.8 Comparison between electrical and 13.7 Characteristics and maximum ratings 190
magnetic quantities 132 13.8 Rectification 190
9.9 Hysteresis and hysteresis loss 132 13.9 Zener diodes 190
13.10 Silicon controlled rectifiers 192
Revision Test 2 134 13.11 Light emitting diodes 193
13.12 Varactor diodes 193
10 Electromagnetism 135 13.13 Schottky diodes 193
10.1 Magnetic field due to an electric current 136
10.2 Electromagnets 137 14 Transistors 195
10.3 Force on a current-carrying conductor 139 14.1 Transistor classification 196
10.4 Principle of operation of a simple 14.2 Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) 196
d.c. motor 142 14.3 Transistor action 197
10.5 Principle of operation of a moving-coil 14.4 Leakage current 198
instrument 143 14.5 Bias and current flow 199
10.6 Force on a charge 143 14.6 Transistor operating configurations 199
 Contents vii

14.7 Bipolar transistor characteristics 200 17.8 Q-factor 270

14.8 Transistor parameters 201 17.9 Bandwidth and selectivity 272
14.9 Current gain 202 17.10 Power in a.c. circuits 272
14.10 Typical BJT characteristics and maximum 17.11 Power triangle and power factor 274
ratings 203
14.11 Field effect transistors 204 18 Single-phase parallel a.c. circuits 277
18.1 Introduction 278
14.12 Field effect transistor characteristics 205
18.2 R–L parallel a.c. circuit 278
14.13 Typical FET characteristics and maximum
ratings 206 18.3 R–C parallel a.c. circuit 279
14.14 Transistor amplifiers 206 18.4 L–C parallel a.c. circuit 280
14.15 Load lines 208 18.5 LR–C parallel a.c. circuit 282
18.6 Parallel resonance and Q-factor 285
Revision Test 3 213 18.7 Power factor improvement 289

19 D.c. transients 294

Main formulae for Part 2 Basic electrical and 19.1 Introduction 295
electronic principles 215 19.2 Charging a capacitor 295
19.3 Time constant for a C–R circuit 296
Part 3 Electrical principles and 19.4 Transient curves for a C–R circuit 296
19.5 Discharging a capacitor 300
technology 217
19.6 Camera flash 302
19.7 Current growth in an L–R circuit 302
15 D.c. circuit theory 219
19.8 Time constant for an L–R circuit 303
15.1 Introduction 219
19.9 Transient curves for an L–R circuit 303
15.2 Kirchhoff’s laws 220
19.10 Current decay in an L–R circuit 305
15.3 The superposition theorem 224
19.11 Switching inductive circuits 307
15.4 General d.c. circuit theory 226
19.12 The effect of time constant on a
15.5 Thévenin’s theorem 228
rectangular waveform 307
15.6 Constant-current source 233
15.7 Norton’s theorem 233 20 Operational amplifiers 309
15.8 Thévenin and Norton equivalent networks 236 20.1 Introduction to operational amplifiers 310
15.9 Maximum power transfer theorem 239 20.2 Some op amp parameters 311
20.3 Op amp inverting amplifier 312
16 Alternating voltages and currents 242
20.4 Op amp non-inverting amplifier 314
16.1 Introduction 243
20.5 Op amp voltage-follower 315
16.2 The a.c. generator 243
20.6 Op amp summing amplifier 315
16.3 Waveforms 244
20.7 Op amp voltage comparator 316
16.4 A.c. values 245
20.8 Op amp integrator 317
16.5 Electrical safety – insulation and fuses 248
20.9 Op amp differential amplifier 318
16.6 The equation of a sinusoidal waveform 248
20.10 Digital to analogue (D/A) conversion 320
16.7 Combination of waveforms 251
20.11 Analogue to digital (A/D) conversion 320
16.8 Rectification 254
16.9 Smoothing of the rectified output waveform 255
Revision Test 5 322
Revision Test 4 257
21 Ways of generating electricity – the present
17 Single-phase series a.c. circuits 258 and the future 323
17.1 Purely resistive a.c. circuit 259 21.1 Introduction 324
17.2 Purely inductive a.c. circuit 259 21.2 Generating electrical power using coal 324
17.3 Purely capacitive a.c. circuit 260 21.3 Generating electrical power using oil 326
17.4 R–L series a.c. circuit 261 21.4 Generating electrical power using
17.5 R–C series a.c. circuit 264 natural gas 327
17.6 R–L–C series a.c. circuit 266 21.5 Generating electrical power using nuclear
17.7 Series resonance 269 energy 328
viii Contents

21.6 Generating electrical power using hydro 24.8 D.c. machine losses 380
power 329 24.9 Efficiency of a d.c. generator 380
21.7 Generating electrical power using pumped 24.10 D.c. motors 381
storage 330 24.11 Torque of a d.c. machine 382
21.8 Generating electrical power using wind 331 24.12 Types of d.c. motor and their
21.9 Generating electrical power using tidal characteristics 383
power 331 24.13 The efficiency of a d.c. motor 387
21.10 Generating electrical power using biomass 333 24.14 D.c. motor starter 389
21.11 Generating electrical power using solar 24.15 Speed control of d.c. motors 390
energy 333 24.16 Motor cooling 392
21.12 Harnessing the power of wind, tide and
sun on an ‘energy island’ – a future
possibility? 334 25 Three-phase induction motors 393
25.1 Introduction 394
22 Three-phase systems 336 25.2 Production of a rotating magnetic field 394
22.1 Introduction 337 25.3 Synchronous speed 396
22.2 Three-phase supply 337 25.4 Construction of a three-phase induction
22.3 Star connection 337 motor 397
22.4 Delta connection 340 25.5 Principle of operation of a three-phase
22.5 Power in three-phase systems 342 induction motor 397
22.6 Measurement of power in three-phase 25.6 Slip 398
systems 343 25.7 Rotor e.m.f. and frequency 399
22.7 Comparison of star and delta connections 348 25.8 Rotor impedance and current 400
22.8 Advantages of three-phase systems 348 25.9 Rotor copper loss 400
25.10 Induction motor losses and efficiency 401
23 Transformers 349 25.11 Torque equation for an induction motor 402
23.1 Introduction 350 25.12 Induction motor torque–speed
23.2 Transformer principle of operation 350 characteristics 404
23.3 Transformer no-load phasor diagram 352 25.13 Starting methods for induction motors 405
23.4 E.m.f. equation of a transformer 354 25.14 Advantages of squirrel-cage induction
23.5 Transformer on-load phasor diagram 356 motors 406
23.6 Transformer construction 357 25.15 Advantages of wound rotor induction
23.7 Equivalent circuit of a transformer 358 motor 407
23.8 Regulation of a transformer 359 25.16 Double cage induction motor 407
23.9 Transformer losses and efficiency 360 25.17 Uses of three-phase induction motors 407
23.10 Resistance matching 363
23.11 Auto transformers 365 Revision Test 7 408
23.12 Isolating transformers 367
23.13 Three-phase transformers 367
23.14 Current transformers 368 Main formulae for Part 3 Electrical principles
23.15 Voltage transformers 369 and technology 409

Revision Test 6 370

Part 4 Advanced circuit theory

24 D.c. machines 371
and technology 411
24.1 Introduction 372
24.2 The action of a commutator 372
24.3 D.c. machine construction 373 26 Revision of complex numbers 413
24.4 Shunt, series and compound windings 373 26.1 Introduction 413
24.5 E.m.f. generated in an armature winding 374 26.2 Operations involving Cartesian complex
24.6 D.c. generators 375 numbers 415
24.7 Types of d.c. generator and their 26.3 Complex equations 417
characteristics 376 26.4 The polar form of a complex number 418
 Contents ix

26.5 Multiplication and division using complex 33 Introduction to network analysis 497
numbers in polar form 419 33.1 Introduction 497
26.6 De Moivre’s theorem – powers and roots 33.2 Solution of simultaneous equations using
of complex numbers 420 determinants 498
33.3 Network analysis using Kirchhoff’s laws 499
27 Application of complex numbers to series
a.c. circuits 423 34 Mesh-current and nodal analysis 507
27.1 Introduction 423 34.1 Mesh-current analysis 507
27.2 Series a.c. circuits 424 34.2 Nodal analysis 511
27.3 Further worked problems on series 35 The superposition theorem 518
a.c. circuits 430 35.1 Introduction 518
35.2 Using the superposition theorem 518
28 Application of complex numbers to parallel
35.3 Further worked problems on the
a.c. networks 435
superposition theorem 523
28.1 Introduction 435
28.2 Admittance, conductance and susceptance 436 36 Thévenin’s and Norton’s theorems 528
28.3 Parallel a.c. networks 439 36.1 Introduction 528
28.4 Further worked problems on parallel 36.2 Thévenin’s theorem 529
a.c. networks 443 36.3 Further worked problems on Thévenin’s
theorem 535
29 Power in a.c. circuits 446 36.4 Norton’s theorem 539
29.1 Introduction 446 36.5 Thévenin and Norton equivalent networks 546
29.2 Determination of power in a.c. circuits 447
29.3 Power triangle and power factor 449 Revision Test 10 551
29.4 Use of complex numbers for
determination of power 450 37 Delta–star and star–delta transformations 552
29.5 Power factor improvement 454 37.1 Introduction 552
37.2 Delta and star connections 552
Revision Test 8 459 37.3 Delta–star transformation 553
37.4 Star–delta transformation 561
30 A.c. bridges 460
30.1 Introduction 461 38 Maximum power transfer theorems and
30.2 Balance conditions for an a.c. bridge 461 impedance matching 565
30.3 Types of a.c. bridge circuit 462 38.1 Maximum power transfer theorems 566
30.4 Worked problems on a.c. bridges 467 38.2 Impedance matching 571

31 Series resonance and Q-factor 471

Revision Test 11 574
31.1 Introduction 472
31.2 Series resonance 472
39 Complex waveforms 575
31.3 Q-factor 474
39.1 Introduction 576
31.4 Voltage magnification 476
39.2 The general equation for a complex
31.5 Q-factors in series 478 waveform 576
31.6 Bandwidth 479 39.3 Harmonic synthesis 577
31.7 Small deviations from the resonant 39.4 Fourier series of periodic and non-periodic
frequency 483 functions 585
32 Parallel resonance and Q-factor 486 39.5 Even and odd functions and Fourier series
32.1 Introduction 486 over any range 590
32.2 The LR–C parallel network 487 39.6 R.m.s. value, mean value and the form
32.3 Dynamic resistance 488 factor of a complex wave 594
32.4 The LR–CR parallel network 488 39.7 Power associated with complex waves 597
32.5 Q-factor in a parallel network 489 39.8 Harmonics in single-phase circuits 599
32.6 Further worked problems on parallel 39.9 Further worked problems on harmonics
resonance and Q-factor 493 in single-phase circuits 602
39.10 Resonance due to harmonics 606
Revision Test 9 496 39.11 Sources of harmonics 608
x Contents

40 A numerical method of harmonic analysis 612 Revision Test 13 697

40.1 Introduction 612
40.2 Harmonic analysis on data given in tabular
or graphical form 612 45 Filter networks 698
40.3 Complex waveform considerations 616 45.1 Introduction 698
45.2 Basic types of filter sections 699
41 Magnetic materials 619
45.3 The characteristic impedance and the
41.1 Revision of terms and units used with
attenuation of filter sections 701
magnetic circuits 620
45.4 Ladder networks 702
41.2 Magnetic properties of materials 621
45.5 Low-pass filter sections 703
41.3 Hysteresis and hysteresis loss 622
45.6 High-pass filter sections 709
41.4 Eddy current loss 626
45.7 Propagation coefficient and time delay in
41.5 Separation of hysteresis and eddy current
filter sections 714
losses 629
45.8 ‘m-derived’ filter sections 720
41.6 Non-permanent magnetic materials 631
45.9 Practical composite filters 725
41.7 Permanent magnetic materials 633

Revision Test 12 634 46 Magnetically coupled circuits 728

46.1 Introduction 728
46.2 Self-inductance 728
42 Dielectrics and dielectric loss 635
46.3 Mutual inductance 729
42.1 Electric fields, capacitance and permittivity 635
46.4 Coupling coefficient 730
42.2 Polarization 636
46.5 Coils connected in series 731
42.3 Dielectric strength 636
46.6 Coupled circuits 734
42.4 Thermal effects 637
46.7 Dot rule for coupled circuits 739
42.5 Mechanical properties 638
42.6 Types of practical capacitor 638
42.7 Liquid dielectrics and gas insulation 638 47 Transmission lines 746
42.8 Dielectric loss and loss angle 638 47.1 Introduction 746
47.2 Transmission line primary constants 747
43 Field theory 642 47.3 Phase delay, wavelength and velocity of
43.1 Field plotting by curvilinear squares 643 propagation 748
43.2 Capacitance between concentric cylinders 646 47.4 Current and voltage relationships 749
43.3 Capacitance of an isolated twin line 651 47.5 Characteristic impedance and
43.4 Energy stored in an electric field 654 propagation coefficient in terms of the
43.5 Induced e.m.f. and inductance 656 primary constants 751
43.6 Inductance of a concentric cylinder (or 47.6 Distortion on transmission lines 755
coaxial cable) 656 47.7 Wave reflection and the reflection
43.7 Inductance of an isolated twin line 659 coefficient 757
43.8 Energy stored in an electromagnetic field 662 47.8 Standing-waves and the standing-wave
ratio 760
44 Attenuators 665
44.1 Introduction 666 48 Transients and Laplace transforms 765
44.2 Characteristic impedance 666 48.1 Introduction 766
44.3 Logarithmic ratios 668 48.2 Response of R–C series circuit to a step
44.4 Symmetrical T- and π-attenuators 670 input 766
44.5 Insertion loss 675 48.3 Response of R–L series circuit to a step
44.6 Asymmetrical T- and π-sections 678 input 768
44.7 The L-section attenuator 681 48.4 L–R–C series circuit response 771
44.8 Two-port networks in cascade 683 48.5 Introduction to Laplace transforms 774
44.9 ABCD parameters 686 48.6 Inverse Laplace transforms and the
44.10 ABCD parameters for networks 689 solution of differential equations 779
44.11 Characteristic impedance in terms of 48.7 Laplace transform analysis directly from
ABCD parameters 695 the circuit diagram 784
 Contents xi

48.8 L–R–C series circuit using Laplace

transforms 794
48.9 Initial conditions 797
On the Website
Some practical laboratory experiments
Revision Test 14 801 1 Ohm’s law 2
2 Series–parallel d.c. circuit 3
Main formulae for Part 4 Advanced circuit 3 Superposition theorem 4
theory and technology 802 4 Thévenin’s theorem 6
5 Use of a CRO to measure voltage,
Part 5 General reference 807 frequency and phase 8
Standard electrical quantities – their symbols 6 Use of a CRO with a bridge rectifier circuit 9
and units 809 7 Measurement of the inductance of a coil 10
8 Series a.c. circuit and resonance 11
Greek alphabet 812
9 Parallel a.c. circuit and resonance 13
Common prefixes 813 10 Charging and discharging a capacitor 15
Resistor colour coding and ohmic values 814
To download and edit go to:
Answers to Practice Exercises 815 www.routledge.com/cw/bird
Index 837
Preface
Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology 6th Edition
provides coverage for a wide range of courses that con-
tain electrical principles, circuit theory and technology
in their syllabuses, from introductory to degree level –
and including Edexcel BTEC Levels 2 to 5 National Cer-
tificate/Diploma, Higher National Certificate/Diploma
and Foundation degree in Engineering
In this new sixth edition, new material added includes
some mathematics revision needed for electrical and
electronic principles, ways of generating electricity –
the present and the future (including more on renew-
able energy), more on lithium-ion batteries, along with
other minor modifications.
The text is set out in five parts as follows:
PART 1, comprising chapters 1 to 12, involves Revision
of some Basic Mathematics needed for Electrical and
Electronic Principles.
PART 2, involving chapters 3 to 14, contains Basic
Electrical Engineering Principles which any student
wishing to progress in electrical engineering would need
to know. An introduction to units, electrical circuits,
resistance variation, batteries and alternative sources
of energy, series and parallel circuits, capacitors and
capacitance, magnetic circuits, electromagnetism, elec-
tromagnetic induction, electrical measuring instruments
and measurements, semiconductor diodes and transis-
tors are all included in this section.
PART 3, involving chapters 15 to 25, contains Electri-
cal Principles and Technology suitable for National
Certificate, National Diploma and City and Guilds
courses in electrical and electronic engineering. D.c.
circuit theory, alternating voltages and currents, single-
phase series and parallel circuits, d.c. transients,
operational amplifiers, ways of generating electricity,
three-phase systems, transformers, d.c. machines and
three-phase induction motors are all included in this
section.
PART 4, involving chapters 26 to 48, contains
Advanced Circuit Theory and Technology suitable
for Degree, Foundation degree, Higher National Certifi-
cate/Diploma and City and Guilds courses in electrical
and electronic/telecommunications engineering. The
three earlier sections of the book will provide a valuable
reference/revision for students at this level.
Complex numbers and their application to series and
parallel networks, power in a.c. circuits, a.c. bridges,
series and parallel resonance and Q-factor, network
analysis involving Kirchhoff’s laws, mesh and nodal
analysis, the superposition theorem, Thévenin’s and
Norton’s theorems, delta-star and star-delta transforms,
maximum power transfer theorems and impedance
matching, complex waveforms, Fourier series, har-
monic analysis, magnetic materials, dielectrics and
dielectric loss, field theory, attenuators, filter networks,
magnetically coupled circuits, transmission line theory
and transients and Laplace transforms are all included
in this section.
PART 5 provides a short General Reference for stan-
dard electrical quantities – their symbols and units, the
Greek alphabet, common prefixes and resistor colour
coding and ohmic values.
At the beginning of each of the 48 chapters a brief
explanation as to why it is important to understand
the material contained within that chapter is included,
together with a list of learning objectives.
At the end of each of the first four parts of the text is a
handy reference of the main formulae used.
There are a number of Internet downloads freely avail-
able to both students and lecturers/instructors; these are
listed on page xiii.
It is not possible to acquire a thorough understanding
of electrical principles, circuit theory and technology
without working through a large number of numerical
problems. It is for this reason that Electrical Circuit
Theory and Technology 6th Edition contains nearly 800
detailed worked problems, together with some 1350
further problems (with answers at the back of the
book), arranged within 202 Practice Exercises that
appear every few pages throughout the text. Some 1153
line diagrams further enhance the understanding of the
theory.

Fourteen Revision Tests have been included, inter-
spersed within the text every few chapters. For example,
Revision Test 1 tests understanding of chapters 3 to
6, Revision Test 2 tests understanding of chapters 7
to 9, Revision Test 3 tests understanding of chapters
10 to 14, and so on. These Revision Tests do not have
answers given since it is envisaged that lecturers/instruc-
tors could set the Revision Tests for students to attempt
as part of their course structure. Lecturers/instructors
may obtain a complimentary set of solutions of the Revi-
sion Tests in an Instructor’s Manual available from the
publishers via the internet – see below.
Learning by example is at the heart of Electrical
Circuit Theory and Technology 6th Edition.
JOHN BIRD
Royal Naval Defence College of Marine and Air
Engineering, HMS Sultan,
formerly University of Portsmouth
and Highbury College, Portsmouth
John Bird is the former Head of Applied Electronics
in the Faculty of Technology at Highbury College,
Portsmouth, UK. More recently, he has combined
freelance lecturing at the University of Portsmouth
with Examiner responsibilities for Advanced Math-
ematics with City and Guilds, and examining for
the International Baccalaureate. He is the author
of some 130 textbooks on engineering and mathe-
matical subjects with worldwide sales of over one
million copies. He is currently lecturing at the
Defence School of Marine and Air Engineering in
the Defence College of Technical Training at HMS
Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire, UK.
Preface xiii
Free Web downloads
The following support material is available from
www.routledge.com/cw/bird
For Students:
1. Full solutions to all 1350 further questions
in the Practice Exercises
2. A set of formulae for each of the first four
sections of the text
3. Multiple choice questions
4. Information on 38 Engineers/Scientists
mentioned in the text
For Lecturers/Instructors:
1–4. As per students 1–4 above
5. Full solutions and marking scheme for each
of the 14 Revision Tests; also, each test may
be downloaded.
6. Lesson Plans and revision material. Typi-
cal 30-week lesson plans for ‘Electrical and
Electronic Principles’, Unit 6, and ‘Further
Electrical Principles’, Unit 64, are included,
together with two practice examination ques-
tion papers (with solutions) for each of the
modules.
7. Ten practical Laboratory Experiments are
available. It may be that tutors will want
to edit these experiments to suit their own
equipment/component availability.
8. All 1153 illustrations used in the text
may be downloaded for use in PowerPoint
Presentations.
 Part 1
Revision of some basic
mathematics
 14 Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology

Law 1: When multiplying two or more numbers

having the same base, the indices are added. 24
Problem 40. Evaluate
Part 1

For example, 2 2 × 23 = 22+3 = 25 24

and 54 × 52 × 53 = 54+2+3 = 59 24
More generally, a m × an = am+n = 24−4 from law 2
24
For example, a 3 × a4 = a3+4 = a7
= 20 = 1 from law 4
Law 2: When dividing two numbers having the same
base, the index in the denominator is subtracted from Any number raised to the power of zero equals 1
the index in the numerator.
25 78 3 × 32
For example, 3 = 25−3 = 22 and 5 = 78−5 = 73 Problem 41. Evaluate
2 7 34
am m−n
More generally, n = a 3 × 3 2 31 × 32 31+2 33
a = = =
c5 34 34 34 34
For example, 2 = c5−2 = c3
c
Law 3: When a number which is raised to a power is = 33−4 = 3−1 from laws 1 and 2
raised to a further power, the indices are multiplied. 1
 3  2 = from law 5
For example, 22 = 22×3 = 26 and 34 = 34×2 = 38 3
More generally, (a m )n = amn
 5
For example, d 2 = d2×5 = d10 103 × 102
Problem 42. Evaluate
Law 4: When a number has an index of 0, its value 108
is 1.
103 × 102 103+2 105
For example, 3 0 = 1 and 17 0 = 1 = = from law 1
108 108 108
More generally, a 0 = 1
Law 5: A number raised to a negative power is the = 105−8 = 10−3 from law 2
reciprocal of that number raised to a positive power.
1 1
1 1 = = from law 5
For example, 3 −4 = 4 and −3 = 23 10+3 1000
3 2
1 1 103 × 102 1
More generally, a = n For example, a −2 = 2
−n
Hence, = 10−3 = = 0.001
a a 108 1000
Law 6: When a number is raised to a fractional
power the denominator of the fraction is the root Problem 43. Simplify: (a) (2 3 )4 (b) (32 )5
of the number and the numerator is the power. expressing the answers in index form.
2 √
3
For example, 8 3 = 82 = (2)2 = 4
1 √2
√ √ √ From law 3:
and 25 2 = 251 = 251 = ±5 (Note that ≡ 2 )
m √ 4 √3 (a) (23 )4 = 23×4 = 212
More generally, a n = n am For example, x 3 = x4
(b) (32 )5 = 32×5 = 310
Problem 38. Evaluate in index form 5 3 × 5 × 52
(102 )3
Problem 44. Evaluate:
53 × 5 × 52 = 53 × 51 × 52 (Note that 5 means 5 1 ) 104 × 102

= 53+1+2 = 56 from law 1 (102 )3 10(2×3)

From laws 1, 2, and 3: =
104 × 102 10(4+2)
35 106
Problem 39. Evaluate = = 106−6 = 100 = 1 from law 4
34 106
35 Problem 45. Evaluate (a) 4 1/2 (b) 163/4 (c) 272/3
From law 2: = 35−4 = 31 = 3 1
34 (d) 9− 2
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 “But they never even mentioned any woman,” exclaimed Margaret.
Then as if she got the other woman’s meaning, she gave her a searching
look.
Mrs. Thorstad talked blandly on. Margaret finished her work of beauty
and came back to the table, tapping the surface of it with her regained
pencil.
“What we must propose is a woman with a national ideal, a woman
thoroughly interested in the district, conversant with its needs and with a
democratic personality.”
Thus definitely did Mrs. Thorstad outline what she believed to be her
virtues, but Margaret did not seem to understand them as solely hers.
“Helen Flandon combines all those things.”
“Personally,” broke in the other woman, “I have always admired Mrs.
Flandon immensely. But I have always felt that her interest in all these
matters was perhaps a little transitory. That is no reflection on her, of
course” (Margaret nodded acquiescence) “but a woman with so many
domestic duties and with so much society life must necessarily not be able
to give her whole mind to the work.”
“She’d give her whole mind if she got interested enough and I think she
is nearly interested enough now. Helen Flandon is big material, Mrs.
Thorstad. She has the genius of leadership. It’s a bit banked with ashes just
now but it could be fanned into flame.”
“Won’t the fact that she is Gage Flandon’s wife work against her?”
“Not materially, I think. Of course that’s one thing that bothers Gage. He
thinks he’ll be accused of using influence to get his wife in. Told me the
thing was impossible on that account. Let him be accused of it. It doesn’t
matter. Her name will please the men. They’ll think they’re pleasing
Flandon by letting her in and that’s of course a thing he can’t deny.”
Mrs. Thorstad apparently did not get all the subtleties of those
statements. A settled darkness had come over her face—a kind of clouded
vision.
Margaret went blithely on.
She talked easily, wisely, giving the wounded hopes of Mrs. Thorstad a
chance to get over their first bleeding, giving her a chance to get her hopes
fixed a little on that political future which, although she was apparently not
to be made delegate at large, still loomed ahead. She suggested that Mrs.
Thorstad should surely be at the Convention in some capacity. And she
went on, telling of the Washington leaders, the section leaders, of the
general plans for work and education in politics among women. Then she
spoke of Freda.
“Is she going to stay here after all? I do hope so.”
“Well, I go home to-morrow. Mrs. Flandon has been interested in Freda’s
staying. She thought there must be things Freda could do here and Freda
wants to stay. Freda doesn’t typewrite but at the Republican headquarters
there may be a place for her. Mr. Flandon has promised to speak to the
chairman about taking Freda on as secretary. At first there’d be only a
certain small amount of correspondence but later they say they could put
her in the campaign headquarters. I must go back to Mohawk. Freda stays
for a day or so at Mrs. Brownley’s—then if she takes this position, Mrs.
Flandon will help her find a place to live. It’s extremely kind of all of you to
be so interested in Freda.”
“She’s a very wonderful young person. I only hope she gets more
interested in us.”
“She has all the irresponsibility of youth,” said her mother, sententiously.
“Oh, by the way,” said Margaret, “I promised to lend your Freda a book.
Here it is.” She took a book from the table and gave it to Mrs. Thorstad who
eyed it a little questioningly.
“It’s very stimulating if not altogether sound,” said Margaret.
“So much of our literature is that.” The older woman compressed her
lips a little. “Not that I am not a Modern. But we are a little inclined to lose
sight of the fact that our fathers and mothers—”
This time her little platform manner was interrupted by the ringing of the
house phone. Margaret spoke into it, briefly.
“Why, yes, I’m nearly ready. I didn’t realize it was so late. No, indeed
not. Come in and wait for me.”
“Don’t hurry, Mrs. Thorstad,” she added, hanging up the receiver. “Mr.
Carpenter can wait.”
But Mrs. Thorstad did hurry. And as she went out she met Walter
Carpenter going in. She gave him her reserved little bow.
 The two Thorstads were still at the Brownley house. The visit had turned
out so much better than Freda had feared that two weeks had slipped away
quickly for her while her mother was working and planning and making
speeches to small clubs and circles along the lines her hostess desired.
Freda was out with Allison Brownley on this particular afternoon and the
two guest rooms were empty as Mrs. Thorstad entered them.
She sat down in a straight chair (the habit of relaxing had long since
failed her) and fell into thought, idly turning the pages of the book she had
borrowed from Miss Duffield. A letter slipped out and fell to the floor. It
had no envelope and as Mrs. Thorstad picked it up she read clearly the
scrawl of writing in black, heavy masculine characters across the back of
the page. It was a love letter to Margaret signed with a black sprawling
male signature, “Gregory.” So Mrs. Thorstad would phrase it with a little
repression of her lips. There were words of passion—there was a flavor of
intimacy—
She read no more than that back page. Then, holding the letter as if it
offended her, she placed it in one of Mrs. Brownley’s envelopes and
addressed it to Margaret.

II

“Did I drive away a visitor?” asked Walter.

“No—she was through with me. You’re rather a relief.”
Margaret could smile with the most complete friendliness of any woman
he had ever seen, thought her visitor. She lifted her head and smiled straight
at you. There were no evasions in her way of showing that she was glad to
see you. She didn’t hold her gladness as a prize, but made you a straight gift
of it. He liked the dress she was wearing—a fawn colored cloth dress that
outlined the straight lines of her figure—he liked the way her hair grew
away from its boyish side parting with a little curve here and there.
“I think I am a little early,” he said, looking at his watch, “but I thought
since I was through at the office I’d come up, and you might be willing to
come out for a ride before we dine. It’s just five o’clock.”
“That sounds very nice. Sit down and amuse yourself while I get my
hat.”
 He obeyed, finding a book which did not seem to interest him at all but
which gave him a chance to turn pages while she put on her hat and piled
the papers on her desk. She turned to him as she was doing that.
“You spoil me.”
“I’d like to spoil you.”
“Spoil me by treating me like a human being—forgetting that I’m a
woman and that you’ve been taught to flatter women.”
“If I do that I can’t remind you that I’m a man and it might be I’d like
you to think of that.”
It was very light. Their tones were the perfectly controlled tones of those
who have emotions thoroughly in check. But the note of seriousness was
there and they were both too wise to pretend that it wasn’t.
“I’m quite ready to go,” said Margaret.
He helped her with her cloak and they went down the stairway. Once in
the car, with Margaret bundled in robes he turned to the boulevards and
they fell into talk again. They liked to talk to each other. They elucidated
things between them. They liked the calmness of each other’s reactions, the
sense of mutual control they had as they held a subject poised on their
reflections, as they explored the sensitive delicacy of some thought.
Politics, people, books—but always their talk strayed back to men and
women. As if in that kind of talk they got most pleasure from each other, as
if the subject were inexhaustible.
Walter had told Margaret a great deal about himself and she had listened
with interest. Then little by little under that cloak of the impersonal she had
told him something of herself, her interest in women. “Not that I idealize
them. I don’t. But they are far more interesting than any work—their
problems are the biggest in the world.”
“Are you looking for still further concessions?”
“You mustn’t use that word. We’re looking for the truth in the situation.
You think because we vote that the game’s up, don’t you? It’s not. If women
are ever going to be—women, Mr. Carpenter, they’ve got to develop all the
qualities they’ve been letting rot and decay for hundreds of years. A few
women have preserved the strength all women should have. But most of
them—Do you dream that most of them have an idea of doing any real
work—want any real work? Do you think they’re going to give up their
security of support without a struggle? They don’t want independence in the
majority of cases. They want certain rules relaxed for their convenience.
But do you think that basically they want to give up their claim developed
through ages as a ‘weaker sex’?”
She stopped, at the little smile in his eyes. “You think I’m as oratorical
as Mrs. Thorstad, don’t you?”
“I do not, but I was thinking that it was time we had some dinner.”
They stopped at one of the hotels and maneuvered their way through a
crowded, ornate dining-room to a little table on the side of the room, Walter
bowing gravely to a great many people as they went along.
“You’re a very solid citizen, aren’t you?” asked Margaret.
“I like solid citizens,” he answered, “are they too on your list of
obnoxious people and things?”
“Of course they are not.”
“I was a little worried after that list began developing. I don’t want to be
on the list of people you don’t like.”
But it was not until they had finished dinner and were drinking coffee
that he developed that thought.
“I wonder if you know how hard you women are making things for
men,” he said, not abruptly but as if stating his brief.
“Perhaps it was too easy before.”
“Perhaps. But you make it so difficult—you stand so aggressively strong
—so independent of us that we can’t find a thing with which to recommend
ourselves. You don’t want our protection—our support—you mistrust our
motives.”
“I told you this afternoon that I thought most women did cling to
protection and support.”
“Not the women we may want. You don’t want the things I have to
offer.”
His tones had hardly raised. In her first moment of embarrassment
Margaret fumbled for words but he went on in that same quiet tone.
“I thought it was as well to be frank with you. I couldn’t see that I would
gain anything by conventionalities of courtship. And I’m a little old to
indulge in certain forms of wooing anyhow. I have never seen any woman I
wanted to marry so much. I like your mind. And I mention it first because it
is the thing which matters least. I like more than that the way you smile. I
would always have the greatest enjoyment from you as a woman of
intellect. But the real reason I want you to marry me is because you are a
woman of flesh and blood—and all that that means.”
She had flushed a little and as he ended in that controlled way, though
for all his control he could not conceal the huskiness in his voice, she
leaned forward a little to him, as if in sympathy. But she did not speak. Her
eyes fell away from his.
“I care for you just as all men have a way of caring for women, Margaret
—I love you very much.”
“I’m a very poor person to love,” she answered, slowly.
“You’re a wonderful person to love. Do you think you could care for me
—ever? After you’d trained me a bit?”
“I like you to talk to—to be with as much as any one I’ve ever known,”
she said at last. “We’ve had a great deal of sympathy for each other. Of
course I guessed you liked me. I rather hoped you wouldn’t love me.
Because”—and curiously enough her voice dropped as if in shame, almost
to a whisper—“I’m so cold, Walter. I don’t feel things like most women.”
“Let’s get out of here,” said Walter, rising abruptly.
But he was unlucky. At the very door they were hailed by a passing
automobile and discovered the Flandons, Jerrold Haynes and three other
people, had seen them. They were invited to come along to the theater
where there were a couple of vacant seats in the boxes the Flandons had
taken. It seemed ridiculous to refuse. The play was conspicuously good, it
was too cold a night for driving and they all knew that Margaret had no
home to which they were going. So, unwillingly, Walter found himself
made part of the larger group. For the rest of the evening he heard Margaret
arguing with Gage, whom Walter noted, seemed very bitter on the matter of
his wife’s discussed entry into politics. He heard Helen say, suddenly and
very quietly, after some rather blustering declaration of Gage’s, “If the
women want me, I shall go, Gage.” Walter was conscious that there seemed
an altercation beneath the surface, that the geniality of relation between
Helen and Gage was lessened. For a few minutes he thought Helen was
flirting rather badly with that ass of a Jerrold Haynes.
 As he took Margaret home she talked at length of sending Helen to the
Convention.
“You’ve shelved me, haven’t you?” he asked as they entered the tiny
apartment so fragrant with his flowers.
“I didn’t mean to. Come in and we’ll talk about you.”
“About you and me.” He came in, readily.
“I didn’t understand that was what you wanted.”
She did not let him touch her and in the isolation of her room he could
not persist. For a while he sat silent and she told him about herself and her
lack of feeling. She had fine, clear, experienced phrases to tell of it. Yet she
was conscious of making no impression.
“I’ve passed the marrying time,” she said.
“Why?”
“It involves things which have passed me by—that I no longer need.”
“You mean—children?”
“No—I haven’t a lot of sentimental yearnings about them. But of course
I would like to have children. There’s an instinct to do one’s duty by the
race, in every woman.”
He actually laughed.
“You chilled young woman. Well—what then has passed by you?”
She did not tell him. Perhaps there were no words, no definite thoughts
in her own mind. She must have been full of strange inhibitions. Analysis
crowded so close on the heels of feeling with her that she never could have
the one without the other. All her study, her watching of men, all her study
and analysis of women had made her mind a laboratory with her own
emotions for victims of analysis.
Gregory had told her that in that sprawlingly written letter, now in the
post office, being sent back to her from Mrs. Thorstad.
Gregory held her thought for a moment. Then she looked at Walter with
fresh appreciation. She liked to be with Walter. He didn’t oppress her. His
mind met hers without pushing. She felt protected in his companionship
from that rude forcing of emotion which had been so hard on her.
He was going now. At the door he held her hand.
“I could be very good to you,” he said, quietly. “Let me try.”
 CHAPTER VII

AN UGLY GLIMPSE

M RS. THORSTAD went back to Mohawk a few days later, leaving

behind her a trail of increased prestige and carrying with her many
assurances of appreciation which she could cogitate at her leisure. Her
husband met her at the station, quietly, graciously pleased as he always was
at a home-coming.
“So Freda stayed for a while,” he said, as they went down the street his
arm hanging heavy with her suit-case.
“Yes. It will be nice for her. Pleasant young girls, Mrs. Brownley’s girls,
although they haven’t a great deal of mentality. Freda attracted quite a little
attention. Miss Duffield is very anxious for her to stay in St. Pierre but of
course Miss Duffield is an outsider and cannot exert any influence. Mrs.
Flandon had some very sensible suggestions. They were going to see if
there was a chance for Freda to get a place as secretary to the general
Republican district committee and later do some work for the campaign
committee. She can’t typewrite and that’s a drawback but they thought they
might get around that. She’ll know in a day or so. It needs the consent of
the chairman and he’s out of the city. But he’ll probably do just what Mrs.
Flandon asks.”
“In the meantime Freda stays at Mrs. Brownley’s?”
“Yes, and if she stays for a definite work, Mrs. Flandon will find her a
place to live.”
“The Flandons are nice people?”
“Oh, yes, a worldly sort, but very good. Mrs. Flandon is to be made
delegate at large from the state if they can manage it.”
“That’s good stuff.”
“She’s hardly the person for it,” said Mrs. Thorstad. “As a matter of fact
I am convinced that if this visiting organizer, Miss Duffield, who after all is
in a most anomalous position, had not urged it (she is an intimate friend of
Mrs. Flandon’s)—well, if she had not interfered I might have been made the
delegate at large myself. As it is, I’ll have to try to get the Federated clubs
to send me. I ought to be there. It’s important for the future. I should have
been the candidate for delegate at large.”
Her husband whistled and shifted the bag to his other arm.
“I’m very glad you were saved that grave responsibility, Addie,” he said,
with his unfailing tact.
“Yes—there is that side, of course. But this Miss Duffield is a person
who’ll bear watching. I never can see the point in sending these unsettled
young women about the country organizing. They’re dangerous in some
ways. Now I happen to know that Miss Duffield is the sort of young woman
who receives men in her rooms—it’s only one room and there’s a bed in it
even if it has a cretonne cover—”
“Addie—Addie—!”
“But that’s not all. At the same time she does receive men in her room—
of course it may be all right and just a modern way—but she also gets
passionate, very suspicious letters from other men.”
Mr. Thorstad frowned. But they reached the house just then and in the
business of entering and commenting on his housekeeping Mrs. Thorstad let
the matter drop. She flew about efficiently and her husband sat back in his
armchair and watched her. There was no doubt of his gladness at her return.
His pleasant gray eyes were contented, a little sad perhaps, but contented.
“Freda isn’t involved with any young men?” he asked.
“No—they tease her about young Smillie—that’s H. T. Smillie, First
National Bank, you know, but she says that’s just nonsense.”

II

Yet it was that very night after the Thorstads had gone to bed and were
sleeping in the pale light of a quiet moonlit sky, that Freda was forced to
admit that it wasn’t nonsense.
All along she had hated staying without her mother, who after all was
her reason for being here. She had to do it, however, or else abandon the
chance of getting the job as secretary to the committee. Freda herself was a
little homesick under all her excitement but, steadying her, there had come
letters from her father which urged her to make the most of any
opportunities which might come to her, which bade her make suitable and
wise friends and learn as much as she could.
One or two of the young men Freda met stood out, as being more
interesting than the others. Ted Smillie, because he was so attracted to her
from the first, had more or less intrigued her. Barbara’s obvious dislike of
the situation had forced both Ted and Freda into somewhat closer
acquaintanceship than would have naturally developed, but they both
worked against Barbara’s interference. There was in Ted, for all his
amorousness, a real feeling for health and beauty. That drew him to Freda
and her to him and there was enough in the glamour of being chosen by the
most competed-for man as worthy of attention, to make Freda feel rather
strongly in his favor. If he had been rude to her, as he might have been to
the country guest of the Brownley’s, she would have seen him more clearly,
seen his weakness, his impressionability, read the laziness of his mind, seen
the signs of self-indulgence which were already beginning to show on his
handsome face. She would have seen him as too “soft” of mind and body.
But he was frankly at her feet and it would have taken an older head than
Freda’s to analyze too clearly past that during those first few weeks.
It was not the first attention she had had, of course. There were always
young men who were ready to be nice to Freda in Mohawk. But much as
they had liked her they had not, as she would have said, “made love to her.”
Ted did that. In his own way, he was good at it and Freda was collecting
experiences and naïve in spite of her power to get a perspective on her own
situation. He had singled Freda out as capable of giving him a fresher thrill
than any of the girls of his own “crowd.” And he had ended by being
pushed a little more than he expected by his own emotions. The prospect of
Freda’s return to Mohawk had annoyed him. He had felt that if she went
now, it would be an incomplete experience. He wanted more than he had
had. Freda had been pleasant, had been more than pleasant, been frank
enough in showing how much she liked him. But he was used to more
abandonment in the girls he knew—more freedom of caresses. He wasn’t
quite sure how far he wanted to go and of course he had no intention of
marrying anybody, certainly not Freda. But he was unsatisfied.
Mr. and Mrs. Brownley had gone to Chicago the day after Mrs. Thorstad
had gone home and the three girls were alone in the house with the servants.
There had been a gay party at a hotel ballroom and at one o’clock the three
girls had left the hotel with their escorts. Ted had his small car and Freda
had wanted him to take Barbara home. But Barbara had demurred, strangely
enough. She was going in the big car with the others, she said.
Barbara had been making life hard for Freda all day. Wherever they had
been she had managed to make Freda miserable. When the older Brownleys
were home, and when her mother was with her, Freda had never been so
completely at Barbara’s mercy as she was to-day. Allie, her usual ally, had
suddenly fallen away too. The fact was that Allie, having pressed her
mother for the purchase of the new runabout, had been put off on the
ground that her father said it was too expensive and on the further ground
that Freda’s visit was not over and that anyway Mrs. Brownley had made no
definite promise. Allie was disgruntled and the enthusiasm she had had for
Freda having run its brief course, like most of Allie’s enthusiasms, she was
willing to lend some slight support to Barbara’s evident ennui with their
guest. All through luncheon Barbara had engineered an extremely rude
conversation about things and places which were entirely foreign to Freda.
Not once had she let her guest slip into the conversation. She had misled
Freda deliberately into wearing her flame colored satin dress to a very
informal afternoon affair and appeared herself, like every one else, in the
most simple suit, making Freda feel foolishly over dressed. It was a little
thing but it pricked Freda. At dinner she had asked some people to come in
whom she knew would follow her lead and they had again left Freda high
and dry on the conversational sands. It had not been a pleasant day and even
as they danced, she and Ted, that evening, Freda felt Barbara’s eyes rather
scornfully on her and guessed at the little tide of innuendo that was being
set in motion. She knew Barbara’s ways by this time. She could not stand it
another day, she vowed. In the morning she would see Mrs. Flandon or go
to a hotel or back to Mohawk.
It was clear that the others had not arrived when they drove up under the
Brownley porte-cochère where a single light was burning. Freda did not
want Ted to come in. She wanted to make her escape to bed before Barbara
might arrive and make her a further target. Besides it was clear that Ted had
been drinking and that he was most amorous. But he was insistent. The
others would be along in a minute and he wanted to see one of the boys, he
said.
They went into the long drawing-room. A single standing lamp was lit
beside a big divan and at Freda’s gesture as if she would turn on more, Ted
caught her hand.
 “Quite enough light,” he said. “Come sit down.”
His methods were not as subtle as usual and they frightened Freda. But
she thought it wiser not to quarrel with him and sat down obediently beside
him on the divan—much too close for her taste.
“You aren’t really going away, are you, Freda?”
“I can’t stay forever. My welcome’s wearing a little thin.”
She tried to pull away from that encircling arm but he would not have it.
His strength had surprised her before, and she had not before minded his
demonstrations. To-night she felt them as different, vaguely repellent.
“Please don’t, Ted.”
“I’m crazy about you, Freda. I’ve never seen a girl like you. There aren’t
any girls like you. Never have been any. I never knew what it meant to be in
love before.”
And all the time that arm tighter, heavier. His face seemed to Freda to
thicken. She discovered that she hated it. Abruptly she wrenched herself
free. But he followed her and unfortunately she had gone to an even darker
corner.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. It was the first time he had done it
and it seemed to exhilarate him.
There followed one of the worst half hours of Freda’s life. She kept
wondering what had happened to the others. She was conscious of herself
growing disheveled. She realized that he was in earnest, that he was excited
past his own control.
In desperation she cried at him—
“But I don’t care for you at all.”
“That makes it more interesting to a man,” said Ted, gallantly. “Anyway,
I’ll never give up.”
“And,” thought Freda, suddenly, with directness, “he hasn’t said one
word about marrying.” With a kind of vague desire to sound the situation
fully, she said—
“Do you really want me to marry you?”
The drinking that Ted had done had not improved his keenness of wit.
He laughed.
 “I think you could almost make me do that,” he answered, “but what’s
the use of marrying? What we want is love—you know. I sized you up at
the start. Freda—you wonderful girl—let me tell you—”
What he told her, the outlines of his plan, struck Freda with impersonal
clearness. She had an odd sense of watching the scene from the outside, as
an observer who jeered at her a little for being implicated. Similar scenes
she had read about ran through her mind. She thought of Ann Veronica and
Mr. Ramage. “He hasn’t gone quite far enough for me to actually fight
him,” she thought—and then—“I ought to ring for a servant or something—
that’s what’s always done. I’m being insulted. I ought to either faint or beat
him. I’m interested. Isn’t it shocking!”
Above all these almost subconscious thoughts her mind dealt with
practicalities. She wondered where the others were. She must get out of the
house early in the morning. She wondered if Ted would keep this up even if
the others came in.
She tried to get to the door but her movement towards escape roused him
further. It had evidently never entered his head that she really meant to
rebuff him. He caught her in his arms.
“So you see, beautiful, how easy the whole thing will be—”
He was growing noisy and she realized that she did not want the servants
to hear. After all it wasn’t her house. She saw that they had been alone for
an hour. It was past two. And then to her immense relief she heard the
limousine outside.
“The others are here,” she said to him.
“Damn the others,” he said mumblingly, and, without apology, forced
himself into his overcoat. In the hall he seemed to recover himself. Perhaps
his sense of social convention struggled and overcame his amorousness
temporarily. He went out, past the entering girls, vaguely speaking rather at
them than to them.
Nothing of what happened after that seemed quite real to Freda. She was
fairly worn out from her trying day and hour of struggle and
embarrassment. As she stood for a minute by a long window trying to
collect her thoughts, she heard the girls at the door and it flashed through
her mind to ease the disgust from her own mind by telling the whole
business. She knew how frankly these girls talked of such things among
themselves.
 They came in, Barbara leading. With a quick, sharp movement Barbara
turned on all the lights and as if in a spotlight the disarrayed parts of the
room seemed to stand out, the rug in which Ted’s foot had caught and
which he had kicked aside, the several chairs at unfamiliar angles, the divan
all tossed, with pillows crushed—most of all Freda herself, hair somewhat
disheveled, cheeks angrily flushed. Allie looked a little queer as she gazed
around. Barbara, after one scornful glance, never took her eyes off Freda.
“So you brought him here?”
“Brought him? Ted? Where were the rest of you?”
“You knew where we were. We said where we were going. We waited
and waited at the Hebley’s. Every one was wondering where you’d gone.
You and Ted Smillie—at two o’clock. But I didn’t really think you’d have
the audacity to make my mother’s house the scene of your—”
The awful thing, thought Freda, is that she doesn’t believe that. But she’s
going to pretend she believes it and it’s just as bad as if she did. Some one
had let her in for this. It looks exactly as if—she looked around and the
color swept her face again.
“You shameless girl!” Barbara went viciously on. “If my mother was
here you wouldn’t dare have done it. To think that we have to stay in the
same house—to think—come Allie—”
But Freda was roused, infuriated. The scorn of her own position, a
position which allowed her to be insulted by such a person, rose above all
else. She flung her cloak around her.
“I wouldn’t stay in your house another night,” she cried, “if I have to
sleep on a park bench all night.”
The front door closed after her. As she reached the sidewalk she heard
the door open again, her name called cautiously, heard the latch slipped.
They were leaving the door open. As if she would go back—
She went through the streets swiftly.
 CHAPTER VIII

ADVENTURE

A LL the time, under that motivating anger and determination not to go

back, ran the two threads of thought—one quickly sifting the
practicalities of a situation for a bare headed young girl in the streets of
a city at two o’clock in the morning, the other analyzing, jeering at the
melodrama of her position.
“It’s a warm night,” she thought, “I’ll probably get nothing but a terrific
cold in my head if I do sit in Lincoln Park all night. That young devil! She
planned all that. She deliberately didn’t tell Ted they were not coming
straight home. There’s no way of proving it. I’d like to bring her to her
knees. I’ll probably meet some fool policeman. How it will embarrass
mother if this gets about. It’s an ugly mess if I don’t do things right. Nice
ending to this visit. I knew the whole thing was bound to be disastrous. It
was all a fake trip. That girl hated me from the start. As if I wanted that
young fool.”
She was walking in the direction of the park, past the long iron fences,
the smooth sloping terraces which characterized the Brownley part of the
city. The street was absolutely quiet. Street lamps seemed very bright as she
passed them. Here and there a light gleamed in a house, a night light behind
an iron grilled door. Her footsteps seemed to resound with disastrous noise.
She felt the sound of her walking was a disturbance of the peace, an affront
to the quiet of everything about her. She hurried, trying to feel as if she
were called out by illness, imagining what she would say if accosted, a little
cooler of anger and beginning to be enthralled and intrigued by her own
adventure.
Angry as she was, there was a thrill in the circumstances. She was sure
she would not go back to the Brownley house and that resolve was backed
perhaps by her interest in what might happen—what adventure might be
awaiting her. Quite fearless and untroubled by any physical nervousness,
her only anxiety was that she was not quite sure of how to meet any
eventuality. But the night was hers. For a few hours she was thrown upon
its mercy, and it exhilarated her, as if she had been released from annoying
restraints. In her rush from the Brownley house she had satisfied a host of
petty feelings which had been accumulating for weeks. It was as if she had
broken through a horde of petty conventions which had been gaining a hold
on her. She felt more herself than she had yet felt in the city. As she went
along she almost forgot Barbara.
The park was still. The iron benches had long ago been deserted by even
the last of the romantic couples. The policeman had evidently left the park
for the night. Freda sat on a bench under a tree and tucked her feet under
her to keep warm.
“Good thing mother insisted on an interlining in this coat,” she said to
herself.
She heard the clock in Trinity High School sound half past two, after
what seemed a long time. She was already chilled and cramped. Then she
heard a sound of voices and looked up to see two men on the far side of the
park, half a block away. It made her a little apprehensive. She suddenly felt
a little unable to cope with two of them. Two had no romantic possibilities.
If it had been one wanderer—
Hurriedly getting up, she slipped through the shadows and cleared the
park, thankful that her coat was dark.
“Well, then, I must walk,” she said, trying to reassure herself by her own
voice. Her feet were very cold and a little damp in their thin slippers. They
hurt.
For a minute she considered going to Mrs. Flandon’s house. But she
abandoned that idea. Mrs. Flandon wasn’t the sort of person she wanted to
know about all this. She’d think she was such a fool. It might hurt her
chances of getting that place. Did she want that place, she queried and kept
her mind fixed on that for a little, sliding into a dream of what she might do
and how she might confound Barbara Brownley.
By this time her walking had become fairly aimless. She had come
through the residence district where she had been living, into a street of tall
apartment houses. Here and there in the windows of these buildings lights
still gleamed. Freda tried to amuse herself by wondering what was
happening there, tried to forget her painful feet. Then she met her second
adventurer.
 He was walking very fast, his head up, and he rounded a corner so
abruptly that she had no time to avoid him. As if he had hardly sensed her
presence he passed her, then she heard his steps cease to resound and knew
he was turning to look at her. He did more, he followed her. In a few strides
he had caught up with her and Freda, turning her head, gave him a look
meant to be fraught with dignity but which turned out to be only very angry.
The man laughed.
“Oh, all right,” he said, “if you look like that, maybe there is something I
can do for you. I wasn’t sure of what sort of person you were. But I see
now.”
His voice was rich and clear and pleasant. Freda could not see what he
looked like but she could tell he was young, and he did not sound
dangerous.
“Please don’t bother me,” she said, “I’m just—out for a walk.”
“I hope you’re near home,” he answered.
Freda couldn’t resist it.
“I’m just exactly a hundred and thirty-nine miles from home.”
He tried to see her closely but her head was down.
“No, you’re not crazy,” he commented, “so there must be a story or a
mystery to you. Can I walk home with you—the hundred and thirty-nine
miles?”
“It’s too far—and I’m really better alone.”
“Please. I’m not in the least dangerous and I don’t want to annoy you.
But you must admit that a young woman at three o’clock in the morning
ought to let somebody accompany her on such prodigious walks. I’m out
for one myself. I’d enjoy it.”
He talked like an Englishman—or an Irishman, thought Freda. And why
shouldn’t she talk to him. It was all too ridiculous anyway. But rather
exciting.
“I’m in a very silly mess,” she told him, “and I haven’t any place to go
to-night.”
“And you wish I’d mind my own business?”
“No—but there’s nothing you can do. I’m not in the least a tragedy. In
the morning I can straighten things out. I haven’t committed any murders or
anything like that. But I said I wouldn’t go back to-night, and I won’t.”
 The young man considered.
“Is it by any chance a husband to whom you made that statement?”
“Oh, no,” Freda laughed. “It wasn’t a husband or even a father. It was
just a girl.”
“Well, you’re a bit thinly clad to carry out your high resolve.”
She shivered.
“Nights are longer than I thought.”
“Oh, you’re right there,” said he, “nights can stretch themselves out to
infinity. However, we must shorten this one for you. I’d just as soon do it by
conversation but your slippers—don’t you think you’d better go back—for
this one night?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Well, I approve of high resolves myself. I’m used to them and seeing
people offer themselves up on their altar. There’s no real reason why you
should give in on any position you took, just because the sun is on the other
side of the world. Could you tell me a bit more, maybe? If names mean
anything to you at this hour of the night, mine’s Gregory Macmillan. I don’t
live here. I’m staying at some hotel or other and I came here on business—
that’s what you always say in the States, isn’t it, when you give an account
of yourself?”
“You’re English.”
“Oh, God forbid,” he cried, “English! You insult me—but you don’t
mean to. No—Irish, Irish, Irish—I should have said it first and have been
spared that accusation.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what your accent was. I see now. It was stupid
of me.”
He laughed at her. “It’s no matter. You’re a very young woman, aren’t
you? I can tell from your voice. Well, you don’t want to wander further with
an Irish adventurer, do you?”
“I can’t help myself.”
“Let’s get down to facts. You quarreled.”
“Hardly that. I tell you it’s a silly business. A drunk young man—a
vicious girl who chanced to be my hostess said things. So I walked out of
her house. I can’t go back without crawling back, can I?”
 “No—you can’t go back if you’d have to crawl. But where else can you
go? Haven’t you some friend—some intimate?”
“No—I can’t disturb families at this hour—and I only know people here
a little.”
“Isn’t there perhaps some single lady? Some unmarried woman to whom
you could turn? At this hour of the night it may be easier, you know, than at
dawn. And you’re dressed for the evening. Of course we might go back to
my hotel. Let’s see—a motor accident might do. No—that would involve
things. You’re sure you don’t know some discreet spinster?”
She thought.
“I’ve only been here three weeks. Only perhaps Miss Duffield—?”
He started.
“You don’t mean Margaret Duffield? You know her? Why, of course,
she’s the very one. Do you mean her?”
“And you know her too?”
“Know her? I have been talking with her until an hour ago. You mystic
child, of course you’d know Margaret. Come, let’s go to her and she’ll tell
me about you—and I’ll get a chance to see her again to-night even—and
perhaps, with you in charge, she’ll want to see me.”
Freda was enchanted. Her feet were forgotten. Barbara was forgotten.
The night, the delicious hour, the stranger who was chivalric and mysterious
and knew Margaret Duffield,—all of it was rounding out a perfect
adventure. She laughed in sheer delight.
“Isn’t it marvelous?” she asked, “this meeting you—you knowing the
only person I could go to, isn’t it curious and like a well-made dream?”
He took her by the arm, holding her up a little as they crossed the
cobbled street.
“Life at its best is only a well-made dream,” he answered.
In all her life Freda had never met any one who dared to talk like that.
It was three o’clock but the light in Margaret’s apartment still burned.
Little lines of it streamed out from the curtain edges. At sight of the light
Gregory stopped.
“Lucky it’s on the ground floor,” he said, “she can let us in without any
of the others hearing us tramp by.”
 Freda hung back a little.
“It’s rather an outrageous thing to do. I wonder if I should.”
“Nonsense. Anyway, you’ve no choice. I’m bringing my refugee here
myself.”
They tiptoed into the little hallway and rang her bell—then went over by
her door. It was characteristic of Margaret that she did not call, “Who’s
there?” from behind the door. She opened her door a little and looked out.
“It’s I,” said Gregory, softly, “and a distressed lady, whom you know.
Can we come in?”
The door opened wider and Margaret put out her hand as Freda shrunk
back a little.
“Why, Freda—where did you come from?” Margaret looked at Gregory,
but he waited for Freda to tell her own story, perhaps not knowing how
much she wanted to tell.
In the light again, Freda had blushed scarlet and then turned pale, her
cheeks wonderfully waxen and lustrous from the night air. Under her eyes
there were circles of fatigue and her hair had clung to her head, damp from
moisture. She looked at Margaret and seemed to remember that her
adventure had begun in disaster.
“I’m so sorry to bother you like this—I’m so sorry. But he said I’d
better.”
Again Margaret exchanged glances with Gregory. Gregory was looking
at Margaret now as if he were conscious of the picture she made in the blue
Grecian negligée which suited that slim, straight figure so well. But if she
noticed his glance, she was impatient of it.
“Of course it’s no question of bother—but what is it?”
Freda had made no move to drop her cloak. She held it close around her
as she stood against the inside of the door.
She told them as much as she could.
“I couldn’t go back.”
The eyes of her hearers were angry.
“Of course you couldn’t,” said Margaret, simply. “And you can perfectly
well spend the night here. In the morning I’ll send for your clothes.”