THE STRANGE ESCAPE OF THE KING'S
JESTER
Although the king's jester promised that he would " Thereafter
make the manner thereof plain to all," there is no record of his
having ever done so. I will therefore submit to the reader my own
views as to the probable solutions to the mysteries involved.
49.—
The Mysterious Rope.
When the jester " divided his rope in half/* it does not follow
that he cut it into two parts, each half the original length of the rope.
No doubt he simply untwisted the strands and so divided it into two
ropes, each of the original length but one half the thickness. He
would thus be able to tie the two together and make a rope nearly
twice the original length, with which it is quite conceivable that he
made good his escape from the dungeon.
50.—
The Underground Maze.
&
How did the jester find
his way out of the maze in
the dark ? He had simply
to grope his way to a wall
and then keep on walking
without once removing his
left hand (or right hand)
from the wall. Starting
from A, the dotted line will make the route clear when he goes
to the left. If the reader tries the route to the right in the same
160