“Why, no.”
Chips looked troubled. “I didn’t see it lying on the beach a minute ago,” he said. “Anyone else pick it up?”
The other Cubs looked blank, shaking their heads.
“I’ll flash back there and have another look-see,” Chips offered. “Wait for me.”
He was gone a long while. When finally he rejoined the group, he was without the paddle.
“It’s gone,” he announced, his face grim.
“Then someone must have picked it up,” declared Dan. “Everyone check.”
The Cubs could not find the missing canoe paddle among their belongings or anywhere nearby. Thinking that Mr. Holloway or Mr. Hatfield might have locked it into the cabin, Brad went there to look.
“No sign of it,” he reported. “I’ll bet a cent that paddle is still on the beach.”
“You look then,” Chips challenged. “I couldn’t find it anywhere.”