227.英文正文（227）

“tellme，”hesaid，“howsoonwilltheyshootme？”“itmightbealongtime，”saido’brien。“youareadifficultcase。butdon’tgiveuphope。everyoneiscuredsoonerorlater。intheendweshallshootyou。”

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hewasmuchbetter。hewasgrowingfatterandstrongereveryday，ifitwaspropertospeakofdays。

thewhitelightandthehummingsoundwerethesameasever，butthecellwasalittlemorecomfortablethantheothershehadbeenin。therewasapillowandamattressontheplankbed，andastooltositon。theyhadgivenhimabath，andtheyallowedhimtowashhimselffairlyfrequentlyinatinbasin。theyevengavehimwarmwatertowashwith。theyhadgivenhimnewunderclothesandacleansuitofoveralls。theyhaddressedhisvaricoseulcerwithsoothingointment。theyhadpulledouttheremnantsofhisteethandgivenhimanewsetofdentures。

weeksormonthsmusthavepassed。itwouldhavebeenpossiblenowtokeepcountofthepassageoftime，ifhehadfeltanyinterestindoingso，sincehewasbeingfedatwhatappearedtoberegularintervals。hewasgetting，hejudged，threemealsinthetwenty-fourhours；sometimeshewondereddimlywhetherhewasgettingthembynightorbyday。thefoodwassurprisinglygood，withmeatateverythirdmeal。oncetherewasevenapacketofcigarettes。hehadnomatches，butthenever-speakingguardwhobroughthisfoodwouldgivehimalight。thefirsttimehetriedtosmokeitmadehimsick，buthepersevered，andspunthepacketoutforalongtime，smokinghalfacigaretteaftereachmeal。