It was not allayed by
the mystic manners of the members or by the unnecessary emphasis
they laid upon their coldness toward himself; and when a
committee informed him darkly that there were "secret orders" to
prevent his coming within "a hundred and sixteen feet"--such was
Penrod's arbitrary language--of the Williams' yard, "in any
direction", Georgie could bear it no longer, but entered his own
house, and, in burning words, laid the case before a woman higher
up. Here the responsibility for things is directly traceable to
grown people. Within that hour, Mrs. Bassett sat in Mrs.
Williams's library to address her hostess upon the subject of
Georgie's grievance.
"Of course, it isn't Sam's fault," she said, concluding her
interpretation of the affair. "Georgie likes Sam, and didn't
blame him at all. No; we both felt that Sam would always be a
polite, nice boy--Georgie used those very words--but Penrod seems
to have a VERY bad influence. Georgie felt that Sam would WANT
him to come and play in the shack if Penrod didn't make Sam do
everything HE wants. What hurt Georgie most is that it's SAM'S
shack, and he felt for another boy to come and tell him that he
mustn't even go NEAR it--well, of course, it was very trying.
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