“Course you have. I gave it to you the other day, when we were fixing up the boat, and you told me you put it in the locker.”
“I don’t remember,” Bob replied.
“I saw you have it,” Ned said. “It was the new one, in a round metal case.”
“Oh, that!” exclaimed Chunky. “Was that the compass! I thought it was a can of peas or something like that.”
“Well, never mind what you thought it was, hand it over,” Jerry said.
“Why, I didn’t put it in the locker,” Bob answered.
“You didn’t put it in!” exclaimed Ned. “What in the world did you do with it?”
“Why, I thought we had enough canned peas on board, and I left it in the boathouse until our supply would run low. It’s there now, on a shelf. I thought it was something to eat.”
“Well, you are the limit, Chunky!” exclaimed Jerry. “I always knew your eating habits would make trouble and now they have, sure enough.”
“I couldn’t help it,” Bob said trying to think of some defense. “Why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t anything to eat?”