Both Uses of

elude
in
The Lords of Discipline

Most of all, they elude facile description, but they do possess a municipal character that has a lot to do with two centuries of scriptural belief that they are simply superior to other people of the earth.†
Chpt 1.2 *

elude = avoid (get away from)

I laid the ball in softly, perfectly, with an underhand sweep that barely eluded a leaping VMI forward who had sloughed off Doug to help Mance.†
Chpt 3.30

Definitions:

(1) (elude as in: she eluded the police)
to avoid, or get away from
in various senses, including:
- "She eluded the police."
- "She eluded danger and finally arrived safely at home."
- "She always messes up, but some how eludes taking responsibility."
(2) (elude as in: your point eludes me)
to escape understanding, memory, or achievement
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

All the meanings of elude are a variation (often metaphorically) of not being able to get a hold of something.