THE CANTERBURY PUZZLES
" Well, when I found the size of the field, I was not long in
discovering the field itself, for the man had let out the district in the
conversation. And I did not need to make the eight digs, for, as
luck would have it, the third spot I tried was the right one. The
treasure was a substantial sum, for it has brought me home and
enabled me to start in a business that already shows signs of being a
particularly lucrative one. I often smile when I think of that poor
fellow going about for the rest of his life saying : * If only I knew the
size of the field !' while he has placed the treasure safe in my own
possession. I tried to find the man, to make him some compensation
anonymously, but without success. Perhaps he stood in little need
of the money while it has saved me from ruin."
Could the reader have discovered the required area of the field
from those details overheard in the wineshop ? It is an elegant little
puzzle, and furnishes another example of the practical utility,
on unexpected occasions, of a knowledge of the art of problem-
solving.
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