"Away he went, but in a couple of minutes was back again, looking scared, 'They're both engaged,' he says.
"'Then they'll have to break it off,' I responded, 'and mighty quick. I'm here to talk with them, so get a move on you again and give that message.'
"If it hadn't been for the policeman I don't think he would have gone, but the policeman backed me up, and the clerk hurried off again; and in the end the bosses decided they had better see me. They looked precious cross, I can assure you, but before I had done speaking they looked crosser still.
"'You say you've done that puzzle,'—they shouted—'the puzzle that has stuck all the mathematical guns at Harvard and Yale—you—a nonentity like you—begone, sir, don't waste our time with such humbug as that.'
"'All right,' I said, 'give me some paper and a pen, and I'll prove it.'
"'That's very reasonable,' the policeman chipped in, 'do the thing fair and square—I'm here as a witness.'
"Well, with much grunting and grumbling they handed me paper and ink, and in a trice the puzzle was done; and it appeared so easy that the policeman clapped his hands and broke out into a loud guffaw. My eyes! you should have seen how the faces of Pervis and Peters fell, and have heard what they said. But it was no use swearing and cursing, the thing was done, and there was the policeman to prove it.
"'We'll give you five hundred dollars,' they said, 'to clear out and say no more about it.'
"'Five hundred dollars when you've advertised three thousand,' I cried. 'What do you take me for? I'll have that three thousand or I'll show you both up.'
"'A thousand, then?' they said.