when the servant announced that a lady wished to speak to him.

'Who is she?' the Doctor asked. 'A stranger?'

'Yes, sir.'

'I see no strangers out of consulting-hours. Tell her what the hours are,
and send her away.'

'I have told her, sir.'

'Well?'

'And she won't go.'

'Won't go?' The Doctor smiled as he repeated the words. He was
a humourist in his way; and there was an absurd side to the situation
which rather amused him. 'Has this obstinate lady given you her name?'
he inquired.

'No, sir. She refused to give any name--she said she wouldn't keep
you five minutes, and the matter was too important to wait till
to-morrow. There she is in the consulting-room; and how to get
her out again is more than I know.'

Doctor Wybrow considered for a moment. His knowledge of women
(professionally speaking) rested on the ripe experience of more
than thirty years; he had met with them in all their varieties--
especially the variety which knows nothing of the value of time,
and never hesitates at sheltering itself behind the privileges of its sex.