would happen if
you trod on that pedal thing instead of that other pedal thing?' He
said, 'I couldn't. One's the foot brake, and the other's the
accelerator.' 'But suppose you did?' I said. 'I wouldn't,' he said. 'Now
we'll let her rip.' So he stamped on the accelerator. Only it turned out
to be the foot brake after all, and we stopped dead, and skidded into a
ditch. The advice I give to every young man starting life is: 'Never
confuse the unusual and the impossible.' Take the present case. If you
had only realized the possibility of somebody someday collaring your
study, you might have thought out dozens of sound schemes for dealing
with the matter. As it is, you are unprepared. The thing comes on you as
a surprise. The cry goes round: 'Spiller has been taken unawares. He
cannot cope with the situation.'"

"Can't I! I'll--"

"What _are_ you going to do about it?" said Mike.

"All I know is, I'm going to have it. It was Simpson's last term, and
Simpson's left, and I'm next on the house list, so, of course, it's
my study."

"But what steps," said Psmith, "are you going to take? Spiller, the man
of Logic, we know. But what of Spiller, the Man of Action? How do you
intend to set about it? Force is useless. I was saying to Comrade
Jackson before you came in, that I didn't mind betting you were an
insignificant-looking little weed. And you _are_ an
insignificant-looking little weed."

"We'll see what Outwood says about it."

"Not an unsound scheme. By no means a scaly project. Comrade Jackson and
myself were about to interview him upon another point. We may as well
all go together."

The trio made their way to the Presence, Spiller pink and determined,
Mike sullen, Psmith particularly debonair. He hummed lightly as he
walked, and now and then pointed out to Spiller objects of interest by
the wayside.

Mr. Outwood received them with the motherly warmth which was evidently
the leading characteristic of his normal manner.

"Ah, Spiller," he said. "And Smith, and Jackson. I am glad to see you
have already made friends."

"Spiller's, sir," said Psmith, laying a hand patronizingly on the
study-claimer's shoulder--a proceeding violently resented by
Spiller--"is a character one cannot help but respect. His nature expands
before one like some beautiful flower."

Mr. Outwood received this eulogy with rather a startled expression, and
gazed at the object of the tribute in a surprised way.

"Er--quite so, Smith, quite