Mr. Leen is the most punctual man in town. Every day, he takes the same walk, and has such a regular pace that he passes the same landmarks at exactly the same time.
One day, he returns home to find that his servant has forgotten to wind the clock. Since his watch is broken, he is unable to set the correct time.
However, he has a solution. His friend Mr. Been has recently moved to town. He decides to walk to Mr. Been's, pay his first call at his friend's new lodging, and see what time it is.
After spending a hearty afternoon of fellowship, he returns to set his clock. Although he had never made the trip to visit Mr. Been before, and thus has no idea how long the walk takes, he is able to set his own clock correctly.
How does he do it?
He starts the clock right before leaving for Mr. Been's house. When he gets there, he checks the time, and he checks the time again right before leaving for home. When he gets home, he subtracts the elapsed time at Mr. Been's house from the elapsed time on his clock, and divides by 2 to get the time to walk to Mr. Been's. He adds this number to the time it was when he left Mr. Been's house to get the correct time.
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