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‘Don’t say things like that,’ said Philip, ‘or I shall cut my-
self.’
‘If you cut yourself,’ answered Newson, full of infor-
mation, ‘wash it at once with antiseptic. It’s the one thing
you’ve got to be careful about. There was a chap here last
year who gave himself only a prick, and he didn’t bother
about it, and he got septicaemia.’
‘Did he get all right?’
‘Oh, no, he died in a week. I went and had a look at him
in the P. M. room.’
Philip’s back ached by the time it was proper to have tea,
and his luncheon had been so light that he was quite ready
for it. His hands smelt of that peculiar odour which he had
first noticed that morning in the corridor. He thought his
muffin tasted of it too.
‘Oh, you’ll get used to that,’ said Newson. ‘When you
don’t have the good old dissecting-room stink about, you
feel quite lonely.’
‘I’m not going to let it spoil my appetite,’ said Philip, as he
followed up the muffin with a piece of cake.