On the station clocks of the Swiss railways, the second hand with the red disc goes round a little too fast. It finishes the circle in about fifty-eight and a half seconds, then stops at the top and waits, until a pulse from the master clock arrives and lets the minute hand jump forward and the second hand set off again. Every clock in the country is early on purpose, so that every clock in the country can be exactly on time. Of everyone on the platform, it is the only one that planned to wait.