10
The Bet

One day June Smith visited the family doctor, Edward Swain. Doctor Swain was an old man with a long beard.

“What's the problem, June? ” doctor Swain asked her.

“I'm very worried about my son, Teddy, ”June said.“I can't stop him from gambling.He spends all his money betting on horse races.And not just on horse races.He'll bet on anything. It doesn't matter what it is.”

“I've cured people of gambling before, ” doctor Swain said. “Send him to me. I'll talk to him.”

A week later doctor Swain spoke to Mrs Smith on the phone.

“I think I've cured your son, ” he said.

“That's wonderful. How did you do it? ”

“Well, ” the doctor said, “it was very strange. While we were talking he was looking at my beard. Suddenly he said, ‘I'll bet you$50 that's a false beard.'”

“Oh, no! ” June said.

“It's all right, ” the doctor said. “I knew what to do. ‘My beard isn't a false one, 'I told him.‘And I can prove it.'”

“‘Can I pull your beard and find out? ' your son asked me.”

“I thought this was my chance to teach him a lesson, so I said,‘Yes, you can pull my beard.'”

“Well, he pulled it, and soon found out it was real.”The doctor laughed. “He had to pay me $50. That should cure his gambling.”

“Doctor, ” Mrs Smith said. “You're wrong. You haven't cured him. You've made him worse.”

“How can that be? ”

“The day before he went to see you, he bet me $100 that you would ask him to pull your beard! ”