Unquestionably Syme will be vaporized， Winston thought again. He thought it with a kind of sadness， although well knowing that Syme despised him and slightly disliked him， and was fully capable of denouncing him as a thought-criminal if he saw any reason for doing so. There was something subtly wrong with Syme. There was something that he lacked： discretion， aloofness， a sort of saving stupidity. You could not say that he was unorthodox. He believed in the principles of Ingsoc， he venerated Big Brother， he rejoiced over victories， he hated heretics， not merely with sincerity but with a sort of restless zeal， an up-to-dateness of information， which the ordinary Party member did not approach. Yet a faint air of disreputability always clung to him. He said things that would have been better unsaid， he had read too many books， he frequented the Chestnut Tree Café， haunt of painters and musicians. There was no law， not even an unwritten law， against frequenting the Chestnut Tree Café， yet the place was somehow ill-omened. The old， discredited leaders of the Party had been used to gather there before they were finally purged. Goldstein himself， it was said， had sometimes been seen there， years and decades ago. Syme’s fate was not difficult to foresee. And yet it was a fact that if Syme grasped， even for three seconds， the nature of his， Winston’s， secret opinions， he would betray him instantly to the Thought police. So would anybody else， for that matter， but Syme more than most. Zeal was not enough. Orthodoxy was unconsciousness.
Syme looked up. “Here comes Parsons，” he said.
Something in the tone of his voice seemed to add， “that bloody fool”. Parsons， Winston’s fellow-tenant at Victory Mansions， was in fact threading his way across the room — a tubby， middle-sized man with fair hair and a froglike face. At thirty-five he was already putting on rolls of fat at neck and waistline， but his movements were brisk and boyish. His whole appearance was that of a little boy grown large， so much so that although he was wearing the regulation overalls， it was almost impossible not to think of him as being dressed in the blue shorts， grey shirt， and red neckerchief of the Spies. In visualizing him one saw always a picture of dimpled knees and sleeves rolled back from pudgy forearms. Parsons did， indeed， invariably revert to shorts when a community hike or any other physical activity gave him an excuse for doing so. He greeted them both with a cheery “Hullo， hullo！” and sat down at the table， giving off an intense smell of sweat. Beads of moisture stood out all over his pink face. His powers of sweating were extraordinary. At the Community Centre you could always tell when he had been playing table-tennis by the dampness of the bat handle. Syme had produced a strip of paper on which there was a long column of words， and was studying it with an ink-pencil between his fingers.
“Look at him working away in the lunch hour，” said Parsons， nudging Winston. “Keenness， eh？ What’s that you’ve got there， old boy？ Something a bit too brainy for me， I expect. Smith， old boy， I’ll tell you why I’m chasing you. It’s that sub you forgot to give me.”
“Which sub is that？”said Winston， automatically feeling for money. About a quarter of one’s salary had to be earmarked for voluntary subscriptions， which were so numerous that it was difficult to keep track of them.
“For Hate Week. You know — the house-by-house fund. I’m treasurer for our block. We’re making an all-out effort — going to put on a tremendous show. I tell you， it won’t be my fault if old Victory Mansions doesn’t have the biggest outfit of flags in the whole street. Two dollars you promised me.”Winston found and handed over two creased and filthy notes， which Parsons entered in a small notebook， in the neat handwriting of the illiterate.
“By the way， old boy，” he said. “I hear that little beggar of mine let fly at you with his catapult yesterday. I gave him a good dressing-down for it. In fact I told him I’d take the catapult away if he does it again.”
“I think he was a little upset at not going to the execution，” said Winston.
“Ah， well — what I mean to say， shows the right spirit， doesn’t it？ Mischievous little beggars they are， both of them， but talk about keenness！ All they think about is the Spies， and the war， of course. D’you know what that little girl of mine did last Saturday， when her troop was on a hike out Berkhamsted way？ She got two other girls to go with her， slipped off from the hike， and spent the whole afternoon following a strange man. They kept on his tail for two hours， right through the woods， and then， when they got into Amersham， handed him over to the patrols.”
“What did they do that for？” said Winston， somewhat taken aback. Parsons went on triumphantly：
“My kid made sure he was some kind of enemy agent — might have been dropped by parachute， for instance. But here’s the point， old boy. What do you think put her on to him in the first place？ She spotted he was wearing a funny kind of shoes — said she’d never seen anyone wearing shoes like that before. So the chances were he was a foreigner. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven， eh？”
“What happened to the man？” said Winston.
“Ah， that I couldn’t say， of course. But I wouldn’t be altogether surprised if—” Parsons made the motion of aiming a rifle， and clicked his tongue for the explosion.
“Good，” said Syme abstractedly， without looking up from his strip of paper.
“Of course we can’t afford to take chances，” agreed Winston dutifully.
“What I mean to say， there is a war on，” said Parsons. As though in confirmation of this， a trumpet call floated from the telescreen just above their heads. However， it was not the proclamation of a military victory this time， but merely an announcement from the Ministry of Plenty.