Time slipped by happily and peacefully. Then William's mother came
into the drawing-room.
"I thought you were going to church," she said.
"We are. The clock hasn't struck."
"But--it's eleven o'clock!"
There was a gasp of dismay.
"The clock never struck!"
Indignantly they set off to the library. Peace and quiet reigned also
in the library. On the floor sat William and Jimmy gazing with frowns
of concentration at an open page of "Things a Boy Can Do." Around them
lay most indecently exposed the internal arrangements of the library
clock.
"William! You _wicked_ boy!"
William raised a frowning face.
"It's not put together right," he said, "it's not been put together
right all this time. We're makin' it right now. It must have wanted
mendin' for ever so long. _I_ dunno how it's been goin' at all. It's
lucky we found it out. It's put together wrong. I guess it's _made_
wrong. It's goin' to be a lot of trouble to us to put it right, an' we
can't do much when you're all standin' in the light. We're very
busy--workin' at tryin' to mend this ole clock for you all."
"Clever," said Jimmy, admiringly. "Mendin' the clock. _Clever!_"
"William!" groaned his mother, "you've ruined the clock. What _will_
your father say?"
"Well, the cog-wheels was wrong," said William doggedly. "See? An'
this ratchet-wheel isn't on the pawl prop'ly--not like what this book
says it ought to be. Seems we've got to take it all to pieces to get
it right.
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