Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1871-05-26
II CIT.fPTER OF PUZZLRS.


pressvely addressing the hostess, "were
walking together down the street, and one
of them, stopping at certain house, knock
cd at the door, observing, Il have a niece
here who is ill.,. THANK Heaven, observed
the other, Il have got no niece, and he
walked away. Now, how could that be?"
"Why, it's a riddler' exclaimed Mr..
Funndog, delightedly.
"And one that you will not guess in
hurry, simple as it is" observed the pro-
fessor, confidently. "Come, ladies and gen.
tlemen, solve the problem"
81 sec" calculated Mrs. Housewife.
"IIush! whisper in my ear" cried Puz-
zeton, with all the excitement of a child
with n new top. "Don't let 'em hear it.
Niece by marriage. Stuff and nonsense!
The thing is not any foolish kind of catch
at all, and once more he glanced with hos
tilty at Funnidog, as much as to say,
"Such as he would ask you.
"Nothing can be simpler than my ques-
tion,' said the professor. "I've got a niece
that's ill.," says one brother. "Thank
Heaven, have not got NIECE says the
other. GLOW can that be? You all give it
up? Well the invalid was his own daugh-
ter"
"Oh, l see," said Mrs. Housewife, des-
pondingly. "How very stupid in us not to
find 1t out"
"Yes, indeed, ma'am," answered the re-
morseless savant. "That failure only shows
how difficult it is for ordinary minds TO
grasp more than one idea at the same time.
The attention is solely fixed ON the differ
ent varieties of nieces."
"And also," observed Mr.. Aloes, (who
was much displeased at being classed among
"ordinary minds'') "and also, the attention
is naturally distracted from the point at is
sue by the brutality of the fathers remark.
Now, that is in itself "A catch, in my opin-
ion."
"Well, sir, | will give you another simple
exercise for the understanding, that has no
such distracting element" observed the
professor, coolly. "A blind beggar had n
brother. The brother died. What relation
were they to one another? Come, tell me
| that"
"Why, they were brothers," exclaimed
the colonel, with the rapidity of a small boy
at the bottom of his class, who hopes TO gain
promotion
mo, sir" answered the professor, re-
garding Thunderbomb with interest, as n
significant type of some low order of intel
| igcnce; "they were not brothers, or |
should scarcely have asked the question"
"They might be brothers in-law," sug-
gested Funnidog.
Undoubtedly they might" replied Puz-
zleton, with plying smile; but they were
not"
"Stop Bit" said Mcpherson, kurriedly,
like one who has not got his answer quite
ready, but yet doesn't wish to be anticipat-
ed. "The blind beggar, you say, had
brother, and the brother died. Well, of
course, if one was dead, You know, they
could not be brothers any longer"
1.-The idea is novel" observed the profess
sor, gravely, "but you have not hit on the
exact solution. The fact is, gentlemen and
ladies, blind beggar may be either male
or female. They were brother and sister,"
~ call that a CATCH" said Aloes, gloomi
ly.
| "Well at all events, ii was an easy one,
and you all missed it," returned the pro-
fessor, with quiet triumph.
"Now, l will give you one more example
OF social arithmetic, which will be in all re-
spects bonafide. 1t is simple question in
subtraction, and all l shall ask of you is
since two or three guesses would arrive at
the truth by mere elimination-to write
down the reply on paper. A man went
into a cobbler's and bought pair of boots
for sixteen shillings. He put down a SOW
ereign, twenty shillings,) and the cobbler
having no change went to a public house
for it, and gave it to him. Later in the day
the landlord of the inn sent in to say that
the sovereign was bad one, and insisted
upon the cobbler making it right, which he
accordingly did. Now, how much did the
cobbler lose by the whole transaction?
There is no play upon words, or anything
but u common sum in arithmetic"
"why, It is the easiest thing in the
world" calculated Housewife. "Of course
the cobbler lost just"
''Be quite surel' cried Puzzleton, very
angrily. "Write it down, will you-if you
can write"
"Scratch professor, and you will find a
tartar" whispered Aloes. "You had bet
ter do as he wishes
So we all wrote down what we imagined
to be the loss which the cobbler had sus-
tanned, and it's wonderful how opinions
differed, within such narrow limits.
The Colonel made his loss two pounds.
Mr.. Aloes made his loss just two pound,
and the boots.
Mr. Funnidog made him lose siA and
thirty shillings.
Mr. Mcpherson made him lose sixteer
shillings and the boots minus the profit h,
! made upon the boots, (which, said the pro