of the exterior of the shack, which was padlocked, retired
without having disturbed anything except his own peace of mind. His
curiosity, merely piqued before, now became ravenous and painful. 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. And he's very much hurt with little Maurice Levy, too.
He said that he was sure that even Penrod would be glad to have him for
a member of their little club if it weren't for Maurice--and I think he
spoke of Roddy Bitts, too."

The fact that the two remaining members were coloured was omitted
from this discourse which leads to the deduction that Georgie had not
mentioned it.

"Georgie said all the other boys liked him very much," Mrs. Bassett
continued, "and that he felt it his duty to join the club, because most
of them were so anxious to have him, and he is sure he would have a good
influence over them. He really did speak of it in quite a touching way,
Mrs. Williams. Of course, we mothers mustn't brag of our sons too much,
but Georgie REALLY isn't like other boys. He is so sensitive, you can't
think how this little affair has hurt him, and I felt that it might even
make him ill. You see, I HAD to respect his reason for wanting to
join the club. And if I AM his mother"--she gave a deprecating little
laugh--"I must s