John Snoggs: "It's very simple. Listen again! You happen to be my
father's brother-in-law, my brother's father-in-law, and also my
father-in-law's brother. You see, my father was--"

But Mr. Bloggs refused to hear any more. Can the reader show how this
extraordinary triple relationship might have come about?


56.--WILSON'S POSER.

"Speaking of perplexities--" said Mr. Wilson, throwing down a magazine
on the table in the commercial room of the Railway Hotel.

"Who was speaking of perplexities?" inquired Mr. Stubbs.

"Well, then, reading about them, if you want to be exact--it just
occurred to me that perhaps you three men may be interested in a little
matter connected with myself."

It was Christmas Eve, and the four commercial travellers were spending
the holiday at Grassminster. Probably each suspected that the others had
no homes, and perhaps each was conscious of the fact that he was in that
predicament himself. In any case they seemed to be perfectly
comfortable, and as they drew round the cheerful fire the conversation
became general.

"What is the difficulty?" asked Mr. Packhurst.

"There's no difficulty in the matter, when you rightly understand it. It