"Gentlemen, I must beg your indulgence. The accident--as we now suppose it to be--which has given to the last comer the number already held by a gentleman who has unsuccessfully consulted me, may have a meaning which we can none of us at present see. If the three visitors who have been so good as to wait will allow the present holder of Number Fourteen to consult me out of his turn--and if the earlier visitor who left me dissatisfied with his consultation will consent to stay here a little longer--something may happen which will justify a trifling sacrifice of your own convenience. Is ten minutes' patience too much to ask of you?"The three visitors who had waited longest consulted among themselves, and (having nothing better to do with their time)decided on accepting the Doctor's proposal. The visitor who believed it all to be "humbug" coolly took a gold coin out of his pocket, tossed it into the air, caught it in his closed hand, and walked up to the shaded lamp on the bracket.
"Heads, stay," he said, "Tails, go." He opened his hand, and looked at the coin. "Heads! Very good. Go on with your hocus-pocus, Doctor--I'll wait.""You believe in chance," said the Doctor, quietly observing him.