The plan seemed both simple and feasible, and he wondered why he had not thought of it before. To be sure, it involved the sacrificing of an ambition of his own; but to-day, out here among the pines and beeches, with the clear blue sky overhead and the eager breeze bringing the color to his cheeks, the sacrifice seemed paltry and scarcely a sacrifice at all. He smiled to himself, glad to have found the solution of Paul's trouble, which was also his own; but suddenly it occurred to him that perhaps he had no right to do what he contemplated. The ethics were puzzling, and presently he turned to Sydney, who had been silently and contentedly wheeling himself along across the road, and sought his counsel.
"Look here, Syd, you're a level-headed sort of chump. Give me your valuable opinion on this, will you? Now--it's a supposititious case, you know--here are two fellows, A and B, each trying for the same--er--prize. Now, supposing A has just about reached it and B has fallen behind; and supposing I--"
"Eh?" asked Sydney.
"Yes, I meant A. Supposing A knows that B is just as deserving of the prize as he is, and that--that he'll make equally as good use of it. Do you follow, Syd?"
"Y--yes, I think so," answered the other doubtfully.
"Well, now, the question I want your opinion on is this: Wouldn't it be perfectly fair for A to--well, slip a cog or two, you know--"
"Slip a cog?" queried Sydney, puzzled.
"Yes; that is," explained Neil, "play off a bit, but not enough for any of the fellows to suspect, and so let B get the plum?"
"Well," answered Sydney, after a moment's consideration, "it sounds fair enough--"
"That's what I think," said Neil eagerly.