WHEN THE CLOCK STRUCK THIRTEEN

The sultry evening found two men, strangers, trying to catch a breath of fresh air, sitting on a bench in a park in central London. They chatted for a few minutes, and then suddenly both men realized that it was midnight, for Big Ben, the clock that tells Londoners the time, began to strike. They listened as the loud gong sounded twelve times, and then the clock struck another time, a thirteenth time.

"How unusual," they remarked, for predictable Big Ben never did anything unusual and always kept perfect time. Both men, saddled their horses and prepared to continue their journeys home.

Sometime later one of the men awoke from sleep, unusually troubled. He was unsure of the cause for his anxiety. Saddling his horse in the middle of the night, he gave the horse free rein. They wandered down tiny country roads. For hours horse and rider roamed over hills and through dales. Mid morning found them in a tiny village far away from home. Hitching the horse to a pole in the village park, he asked a passerby, "What is there for excitement in this town today?"

The villager answered, "Nothing exciting except that a man is on trial for murder."

Remounting his horse, he galloped to the courthouse and peered through the door.