He discovered with a little fall of the heart that these were the conditions he took as normal now and that he did not mind.
Robert snarled at him. Ralph entered into the play and everybody laughed. Presently they were all jabbing at Robert who made mock rushes… The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain… The butt end of a spear fell on his back as he blundered among them.
By now, Ralph had no self-consciousness in public thinking but would treat the day’s decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player.