then stopped

then stoppedWhen Scrooge woke up，it was very dark in the room．Safety barricadesHe heard the church clock start striking，and listened to see what the time was．To his great surprise，the heavy bell went on striking up to twelve，then stopped．Twelve o'clock！ It was past two in the morning when he had gone to bed．The clock must be wrong！He looked at his watch．It said twelve o'clock too！

‘Have I slept all day？Is it the next night already？’scrooge asked himself．‘Or has something happened to the sun？Perhaps it's midday，not midnight！But that's impossible！’then stoppedHe climbed out of bed，and felt his way to the window．But there was nobody outside in the dark，foggy streets，and he realized it must be night-time．He went back to bed again，but could not sleep．He was worried，because he could not understand what was happening．‘Was Marley's ghost a dream？’he wondered．‘But it seemed very real…’then stoppedHe lay awake until he heard the clock striking a quarter to the hour．Safety barricadesSuddenly he remembered．The ghost had warned him that a spirit would visit him at one o'clock．He decided to stay awake until one o'clock had passed．The quarter of an hour passed very slowly，but at last he heard the clock striking the four quarters．