ifferent and
spiritual about Georgie, and, though this consciousness of theirs may
have been a little obscure, it was none the less actual. That is to say,
they knew that Georgie Bassett was a boy set apart; but they did
not know that they knew it. Georgie's air and manner at all times
demonstrated to them that the thing was so, and, moreover, their mothers
absorbed appreciation of Georgie's wonderfulness from the very fount
of it, for Mrs. Bassett's conversation was of little else. Thus, the
radiance of his character became the topic of envious parental comment
during moments of strained patience in many homes, so that altogether
the most remarkable fact to be stated of Georgie Bassett is that he
escaped the consequences as long as he did.

Strange as it may seem, no actual violence was done him, except upon the
incidental occasion of a tar-fight into which he was drawn by an obvious
eccentricity on the part of destiny. Naturally, he was not popular with
his comrades; in all games he was pushed aside, and disregarded, being
invariably the tail-ender in every pastime in which leaders "chose
sides"; his counsels were slighted as worse than weightless, and all his
opinions instantly hooted. Still, considering the circumstances fairly
and thoughtfully, it is difficult to deny that his boy companions showed
creditable moderation in their treatment of him. That is, they were
moderate up to a certain date, and even then they did not directly
attack him--there was nothing cold--blooded about it at all. The
thing was forced upon them, and, though they all felt pleased and
uplifted--while it was happening--they did not understand precisely why.
Nothing could more clearly prove their innocence of heart than this very
ignorance, and yet none of the grown people who later felt themselves
concerned in the matter was able to look at it in that light. Now, here
was a characteristic working of those reactions that produce what is
sometimes called "the injustice of life", because the grown people were
responsible for the whole affair and were really the guilty parties.
It was from grown people that Georgie Bassett learned he was a boy set
apart, and the effect upon him was what alienated his friends. Then
these alienated friends were brought (by odious comparisons on the
part of grown people) to a condition of mind wherein they suffered
dumb annoyance, like a low fever, whenever they heard Georgie's name
mentioned, while association wit