Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney
page 26 of 735 (03%)
disturbed seventeen times as long as the grocer. What was the result of
the race?

35.--JUDKINS'S CATTLE.

Hiram B. Judkins, a cattle-dealer of Texas, had five droves of animals,
consisting of oxen, pigs, and sheep, with the same number of animals in
each drove. One morning he sold all that he had to eight dealers. Each
dealer bought the same number of animals, paying seventeen dollars for
each ox, four dollars for each pig, and two dollars for each sheep; and
Hiram received in all three hundred and one dollars. What is the
greatest number of animals he could have had? And how many would there
be of each kind?

36.--BUYING APPLES.

As the purchase of apples in small quantities has always presented
considerable difficulties, I think it well to offer a few remarks on
this subject. We all know the story of the smart boy who, on being told
by the old woman that she was selling her apples at four for threepence,
said: "Let me see! Four for threepence; that's three for twopence, two
for a penny, one for nothing--I'll take _one_!"

There are similar cases of perplexity. For example, a boy once picked up
a penny apple from a stall, but when he learnt that the woman's pears
were the same price he exchanged it, and was about to walk off. "Stop!"
said the woman. "You haven't paid me for the pear!" "No," said the boy,
"of course not. I gave you the apple for it." "But you didn't pay for
the apple!" "Bless the woman! You don't expect me to pay for the apple
and the pear too!" And before the poor creature could get out of the
DigitalOcean Referral Badge