FIRST DAY

"This isn't such a bad place," the young man said.

"It isn't bad, as these places go," said the old man.

"Have you been here long?"

"Same as you, about a week."

"How did they get you?" asked the old man.

"In a raid on Headquarters....You, too?"

"No," said the old man, "I stay away from Headquarters, kid.

They got me at the bridge."

"You mean, you are one of the..."

"Get going," said the third man.

SECOND DAY

"Have they interrogated you yet, kid?" asked the old man.

"Several times," said the kid.

"Did they give you the 'treatment'?"

"Not too bad."

"Tell them anything?"

"Not a thing."

"Nothing at all?"

"Never answered a question."

"That isn't good," said the old man. "You always should say something."

"But they told me at Headquarters..."

"Never mind Headquarters, kid," said the old man. "They aren't here."

You should always tell a little bit."

3

"Couldn't settle down?"

"It wasn't what we expected," said the kid. "It was so dull....not the right thing....you know, no spirit....no enthusiasm....It wasn't the real victory...."

"Nothing ever is," said the old man.

"What do you mean?" asked the kid.

"Forget it."

"Keep moving," the third man said.

FOURTH DAY

"Were you questioned again, kid?" asked the old man.

"No, not again," answered the kid. "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know."

"What do you think?"

"I don't think."

"You know," said the kid after a while, "there is a football field right outside the wall. I can see it from the window."

"Like to play?"

"I don't know," said the kid, "I hardly remember how. It has been a long time."

"You should never forget to play, kid."

"Well," said the kid, "I have the Ideal. That's worth more than anything."

The old man did not answer.

"Do you think they will shoot me?" asked the kid.

"Would you mind dying for the ideal?" answered the old man.

"I don't know....not really, I suppose....One never knows...."

4

"That's right. One never does."

"I somehow can't imagine dying," said the kid. I can't think of all
these big things happening without me....or life....without me."

"Don't think of it," replied the old man.

"This is a last warning," the third man said.

## FIFTH DAY

"The kid won't be down anymore," said the third man.

"When....?"

"I can't answer any questions."

The old man said, "Sometimes I wish they had got me at his age, when
there was still purpose to all this."

The third man did not reply.

The old man continued, almost to himself: "I wonder whether they
know at Headquarters what would happen if victory were ever won?

What would men like me...or the kid...do then?"

"If that's the way you feel about it," said the third man, "why
don't you confess?"

The old man answered: "I have to go through with it now. Only that
way can I give meaning to my life...."

The old man started pacing, slowly, deliberately....alone....