One sunny Saturday afternoon while Lennie was taking his daily stroll\nin the city, he passed a young woman walking bent over, hands on her face, crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, girl,\u201d said Lennie, stepping alongside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just been cheated of 20 quid I had saved up to buy my sick mother\nsome medical supplies she needs, hoping to win more,\u201d she sobbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She explained that a man sitting at a makeshift table on the bridge by\nthe river had cheated her using cups and a ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome with me,\u201d said Lenny, taking her resolutely by the hand, \u201clet\u2019s\nsee about this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo you wanna play, matey,\u201d said the trickster to Lenny, spitting\ntobacco and deftly moving the cups and ball about on a small table supported by\ntwo plastic beer cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure, pal,\u201d said Lenny, \u201clooks easy enough to spot which cup is hiding\nthe ball. You\u2019re going to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game proceeded to its inevitable conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re really good at this, pal. Looks like I owe you 50 quid,\u201d said\nLenny, looking impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight you are, matey. Pay up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCertainly, here you have the cash,\u201d said Lenny, placing a fifty quid\nnote on the table. \u201cBut I have a proposition for you, if you are a daring gambling\nman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEh, what\u2019s dat,\u201d said the trickster with a sly grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, if you win, I\u2019ll pay you 200 quid, if you lose you pay me 100\nquid. You need to solve a small problem in division,\u201d said Lenny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd what kind of trick is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSimple, really. I\u2019ll give you five attempts to find a square number\nwhich divided by five gives a remainder of two or three.\u201d said Lenny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUhh\u2026 Give me an example,\u201d said the trickster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, take any number such as six and square it, in this case getting\n36, which divided by five gives a remainder of one. You just need to find a\nnumber that gives two or three as a remainder. Easy peasy,\u201d said Lenny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMatey, you just lost another 200 quid. I\u2019ve got a quick mind for figures, see,\u201d said the trickster, tapping his temple and chewing more rapidly on his tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay, pal, let\u2019s put our money on the table,\u201d said Lenny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After trying five times, the trickster was unable to find such a number\nand, swearing to high heaven, had to concede a loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lenny, who was much bigger than the trickster, picked up his newly won 100\nquid plus his stake of 200 and walked away with the girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNext time stay away from such people,\u201d said Lenny handing her the 20 quid she had lost, plus a fiver. She gave him a big hug followed by a quick kiss, and ran off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you find such a number?<\/em><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>