Our vicar was always raising money for one cause or another .But he never had manged to have the brokenclock repaired .The clock whichused to strike the hours day and night was damaged during the war and had been silent ever since .One night ,however ,our vicar was woken up with a start :the clock was striking thirteen times before it stopped .Looking at his watch ,he saw it was one o'clock .Armed with a torch ,he went up into the clock tower and saw what was going on .

<STRONG><FONT face=Arial>In the torchlights ,he caught a sight of a figure whom he immediately recognised  as Bill Wilkins ."what are you going up here ,Bill "?asked the vicar in surprise  ."I I'm trying to repair the bell  "answered  Bill ."I have been coming up here night after night for weeks now .You see ,i was hoping to give you a surprise !""Yes ,you certainly did give me a surprise "said the vicar ."You have woken up all of the people in the village too .Still ,it is glad that the clock is working again ! ""But that is the problem ,vicar ."answered Bill ."It is work all right .But i'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times again "."we will be used to that. Thirteen is not as good as one but it's better than nothing  "said the vicar ."Now ,let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea ".</FONT></STRONG>