If the man suddenly confronted him and begged his aid, what would he do?
He knew quite well what he would do.

He considered even the means by which he would assist the fugitive to a successful get-away.
The ethics of the question did not concern Fred.

He did not weigh his duty to the State of New York, or to society.

One day, when he had visited "the institution," as a somewhat sensitive neighborhood prefers to speak of it, he was told that the chance of a prisoner's escaping from Sing Sing and not being at once retaken was one out of six thousand.

So with Fred it was largely a sporting proposition.