“He doesn’t rag on you,” said Ellwood, later, when they had sent Lansing out on a particularly foolhardy scouting mission. Hayes scoffed. “Doesn’t think I’m worthy. You don’t rag on plebs.” “I’m sure that’s not it,” said Ellwood. Hayes twisted his mouth and didn’t reply. Ellwood had the uneasy feeling he had misspoken, that it was like all the times in Shell when boys had called him miserly and Gaunt had told him it wasn’t because he was Jewish. It occurred to him now that Gaunt had meant to reassure him. It had only ever made Ellwood feel alone.
