Merry Christmas Everybody!!!

he had not betrayed her. He had not stopped loving
her; his feelings towards her had remained the same. O'Brien had seen what
he meant without the need for explanation.
'Tell me,' he said, 'how soon will they shoot me?'
'It might be a long time,' said O'Brien. 'You are a difficult case.
But don't give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we
shall shoot you.'



IV

He was much better. He was growing fatter and stronger every day, if
it was proper to speak of days.
The white light and the humming sound were the same as ever, but the
cell was a little more comfortable than the others he had been in. There
was a pillow and a mattress on the plank bed, and a stool to sit on. They
had given him a bath, and they allowed him to wash himself fairly
frequently in a tin basin. They even gave him warm water to wash with. They
had given him new underclothes and a clean suit of overalls. They had
dressed his varicose ulcer with soothing ointment. They had pulled out the
remnants of his teeth and given him a new set of dentures.
Weeks or months must have passed. It would have been possible now to
keep count of the passage of time, if he ha