While Wally and Beaver are out fishing at Friends Lake, they abandon their rods and reels when they see an empty canoe out on the water. Wading about 10 feet offshore, Beaver is able to drag it to shore, and Wally is able to locate its owner, Mr. Willard Watson, who is grateful to have it back and who will be providing a reward to the boys. As Beaver relays the story to his friends, his tale is slightly exaggerated. With each successive telling by his friends, it gets even more exaggerated. So by the time Miss Landers hears the "wonderfully heroic" story and makes Beaver tell it again in class, Beaver doesn't correct the many inaccuracies others have now built into it. Unknown to Beaver, Richard, Whitey and Judy convince Miss Landers to submit the story of Beaver's heroism to the local newspaper, which is holding a local newsworthy story contest, the winning submission to receive $25. The story does get printed. When Beaver hears about the printed story, he has to decide to confess or keep quiet about the real story.
—Huggo