The ingenious manner in which a box of treasure, consisting principally
of jewels and precious stones, was stolen from Gloomhurst Castle has
been handed down as a tradition in the De Gourney family. The thieves
consisted of a man, a youth, and a small boy, whose only mode of escape
with the box of treasure was by means of a high window. Outside the
window was fixed a pulley, over which ran a rope with a basket at each
end. When one basket was on the ground the other was at the window. The
rope was so disposed that the persons in the basket could neither help
themselves by means of it nor receive help from others. In short, the
only way the baskets could be used was by placing a heavier weight in
one than in the other.
Now, the man weighed 195 lbs., the youth 105 lbs., the boy 90 lbs., and
the box of treasure 75 lbs. The weight in the descending basket could
not exceed that in the other by more than 15 lbs. without causing a
descent so rapid as to be most dangerous to a human being, though it
would not injure the stolen property. Only two persons, or one person
and the treasure, could be placed in the same basket at one time. How
did they all manage to escape and take the box of treasure with them?
The puzzle is to find the shortest way of performing the feat, which in
itself is not difficult. Remember, a person cannot help himself by
hanging on to the rope, the only way being to go down "with a bump,"
with the weight in the other basket as a counterpoise.