He knew that he had more to fear from the Eye than Georgie had, and he was under the impression (a correct one) that Georgie felt on intimate terms with it and was actually fond of it.
Penrod himself would have maintained that he was fond of it, if he had been asked.

He would have said so because he feared to say otherwise; and the truth is that he never consciously looked at the Eye disrespectfully.

He would have been alarmed if he thought the Eye had any way of finding out how he really felt about it.

When not off his guard, he always looked at it placatively.
By and by, he sagged so far to the left that he had symptoms of a "stitch in the side", and, rousing himself, sat partially straight for several moments.

Then he rubbed his shoulders slowly from side to side against the back of the seat, until his mother whispered, "Don't do that, Penrod." Upon this, he allowed himself to slump inwardly till the curve in the back of his neck rested against the curved top of the back of the seat.
It was a congenial fit, and Penrod again began to move slowly from side to side, finding the friction soothing.