"Very well," said James. "A man went to a shoemaker and bought a pair of
boots, for which he was to pay five dollars. He offered a fifty-dollar
bill, which the shoemaker sent out and had changed. He paid his customer
forty-five dollars in change, and the latter walked off with the boots.
An hour later he ascertained that the bill was a counterfeit, and he was
obliged to pay back fifty dollars in good money to the man who had
changed the bill for him. Now, how much did he lose?"

"That's easy enough. He lost fifty dollars and the boots."

"I don't think that's quite right," said James, smiling.

"Of course it is. Didn't he have to pay back fifty dollars in good
money, and didn't the man walk off with the boots?"

"That's true; but he neither lost nor made by changing the bill. He
received fifty dollars in good money and paid back the same, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Whatever he lost his customer made, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Well, the man walked off with forty-five dollars and a pair of boots.
The other five dollars the shoemaker kept himself."

"That's so, Jim. I see it now, but it's rather puzzling at first. Did
you make that out yourself?"