And, in some way, he grew to think that Paul was not in the dark; that he knew of Neil's plan and was lending his sanction to it; that, in fact, the whole arrangement was a conspiracy in which both Neil and Paul shared equally.

In this he did Paul injustice, as he found out later.
He went to Neil's room that Friday night for a few minutes and found Paul much wrought up over the disappearance of Tom Cowan.

Cowan's room looked as though a cyclone had struck it, Paul declared, and Cowan himself was nowhere to be found.
"I'll bet he's done what he said he'd do and left," said Paul.

But Sydney had seen him but an hour or so before at commons, and Paul set out to hunt him up.
"I know you chaps don't like him," he said; "but he's been mighty decent to me, and I don't want to seem to be going back on him just now when he's so down on his luck.

I'll be back in a few minutes." Sydney found Neil quite cheerful and marveled at it.