Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed
to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big block which used to strike
the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the block was striking the hours!
Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o’clock, but the bell struck thirteen times
before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the block tower to see
what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately
recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
‘Whatever are you doing up here Bill?’asked the vicar in surprise.
‘I’m trying to repair the bell,’answered Bill. ‘I’m coming up here night after night
for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.’
‘You certainly did give me a surprise!’said the vicar. ‘You’ve probably woken up
everyone in this village as well. Still, I’m glad the bell is working again.’
‘That’s the trouble, vicar,’answered Bill. ‘It’s working all right, but I’m afraid
that at one o’clock it will strike thirteen times and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
‘We’ll get used to that, Bill,’said the vicar. ‘Thirteen is not as good as one, but
it’s better than nothing. Now let’s go downstairs and have a cup of tea.’