The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1917-12-21

George Bassett was a boy set apart.
Not only that; George knew that he
was boy set apart. He would think
about 1t for ten or twenty minutes at a
time, and he could not look at himself
IN a mirror and remain wholly without
emotion. What that emotion was, he
would have been unable to put into
words. but it helped him to understand
that there was certain noble some
thing about him which other boys did
not possess.
Georges mother had been the first
to discover that George was boy set
apart. in fact. George did not know
1t until one day, when he happened to
overhear his mother telling his aunts
about 1t. True, he had always under
stood that he was the best boy In town
and he Intended to be minister when
he grew up. but he had never before
comprehended the full extent of his
eanctity. and, from that fraught mo-
ment onward, he had an almost the
atricaI sense of his set-apartness.
Penrod Schofield and Sam Williams
and the other boys of the neighborhood
all were conscious that there was
something different and spiritual about
George, and. though this conscious
ness of theirs may have been little OBJ
scure. 1t was none the less actual. That
liz to say. they knew that George Bas-
sett was a boy set apart, but they did
not know that they knew it. Georges
air and manner at all times demon
strated to them that the thing was
%. and, moreover, their mothers abb
sOrbed appreciation Of Georges won
derfulnesS 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 George 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 q tar fight, into
which he was drawn by an obvious &C.
centricity on the part Of destiny. Nat
uraiiy, he was not popular with his
comrades; in all games he was pushed
aside. and disregarded. being invaria-
bly, the tail-ender in every pastime In
which leaders "chose sides" his coun-
sells were sighted as worse than
weightless. and all his opinions Instant
Iy hooted. Still, considering the cir
cumstances fairly and thoughtfully, 1t
IL difficult to deny that his boy COM
panions 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 at
tack him-there was nothing cold
FLOODED about it at all. The thing was
forced upon them. and, though they all
felt pleased and uplifted-while 1t 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 1t Ia that light.
Now. here was q characteristic working
OF those reactions which 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 1t was
from grown people that Gergie Bassett
learned that he was boy set apart,
and the effect upon him was what
alienated his friends. Then these alien
ated friends were brought (by odious
comparisons on the part Of grown peo-
ple) to q condition of mind wherein
they suffered dumb annoyance, hike q
low fever, whenever they heard
Georges name mentioned, while asso
citation with his actual person became
every day more and more irritating
And yet, having laid this fuse and hav,
Ing kept it constantly glowing. the
grown people expected nothing to hap
pen to George.
The catastrophe befell as conse
quence of Sam Williams deciding tt
have a shack In his backyard. San