1. There was a knock on the door. I openned it and found a small dark man in a blue overcoat and a woolen cap.

2. He said he was an employee of the  gas company and had come to read the meter.

3. But I had a suspicion that he wasn't speaking the truth because the meter readers usually wear a peaked caps.

4. Howerver, I took him to the meter, which is in a dark corner under the staris.

5. I asked if he had a torch; he said he dislike torchs and always read the meters by the light of a match.

6. I remarked that if there was a leak in the gaspipe there might be an explosion while he was reading the meter.

7. He said, 'As a matter of an fact, there was the explosion in thethe last house I visited; and Mr. Smith,the owner of the house, was burnt in the face.'

8. 'Mr. Smith was holding aa lighted match at the time of the explosion.'

9. To prevent a possible repetition of this accident, him a torch.