“Why,” went on the other, to the secret amusement of the listening Frank, “don’t you recollect what I said yesterday when we were talking about your missing that cute little aluminum monkey wrench you invented—and how I believed that old robber of a bald eagle might have grabbed it, because it was shiny. Well, you know that pair have a nest somewhere on the cliffs up on Thunder Top. What’s to hinder you taking a peek to see if I wasn’t right?”
“Oh, rats!” said Andy, with a shrug of his shoulders. “You know I don’t take any stock in that yarn, Elephant. I’m only afraid Larry hit closer when he said I might have dropped that jewel out of my pocket at the time I was hanging from that limb over the sink hole.”
Frank put down his knife which he had been using.
“Now that the subject has come up again,” he said, quietly, “I might mention something that occurred to me while you were in at dinner, Andy.”
“About my lost wrench?” demanded the other, quickly.
“That’s it. Stop and think now—do you remember laughing at me for trying my big tool on that tiny nut that holds the main guy of the rudder?”
“Sure I do,” replied the other, promptly.
“And you did the job like a charm with your little wrench, for I complimented you on the way it worked. You remember that, of course?” Frank went on.
“Sure I do,” repeated Andy, his eyes beginning to glow with anticipation.
“Well,” Frank continued, “it wasn’t last Friday that happened, nor yet Saturday. I’m positive it was on Monday of this week, just the day before the glorious Fourth, and if you doubt it I can prove the same.”