As soon as we were in the corridor he ordered me to stand with my face to the wall, and went away.

There I stood in my stocking feet waiting.

The cold chilled me through; I began standing first on one foot and then on the other, racking my brains as to what they were going to do to me, wondering why I was being punished like this, and how long it would last; you know the thoughts fear-born that plague the mind....
After what seemed an eternity I heard him coming back.

I did not dare to move or even look.

He came up to me; stopped by me for a moment; my heart stopped; he threw down a pair of boots beside me, and said: "'Go to your cell and put those on,' and I went into my cell shaking.
That's the way they give you a new pair of boots in prison, Frank; that's the way they are kind to you." "The first period was the worst ?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, infinitely the worst! One gets accustomed to everything in time, to the food and the bed and the silence: one learns the rules, and knows what to expect and what to fear...." "How did you win through the first period ?" I asked.
"I died," he said quietly, "and came to life again, as a patient." I stared at him.