On Wednesday evening, we went to the

Town Hall. It was the last day of the year

and a large crowd of people had gathered

under the Town Hall clock.It would

strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.

Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five

to twelve, the clock stopped. The big

minute hand did not move. We waited

and waited, but nothing happened. Sud-

denly someone shouted, 'It's two minutes

past twelve! The clock has stopped!' I

looked at my watch. It was true. The big

clock refused to welcome the New Year.

At that moment everybody began to

laugh and sing.