“That was mine, sir,” answered Fred. “I—er—I was going to show some of the fellows a new way to light a fire, by mixing the carbide with some water and generating acetylene gas.”
“Didn’t you light the gas?”
“No, sir.”
“You are positive?” And now Captain Putnam’s voice was stern.
“I have told you the truth, Captain Putnam,” answered Fred, and looked the head of the school squarely in the eyes.
“Ahem! When you retired, what did you do with the can of carbide?”
“I was going to put it back on my bicycle, where it belongs, but I forgot it and left it by the pile of brushwood.”
“Open?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Rather a dangerous thing to do.”