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349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
250
Finis
November
27.
To-day,
armed
with
a
certificate
from
my
Doctor
in
a
sealed
envelope
and
addressed
"to
the
Medical
Officer
examining
Mr.
W.N.P.
Barbellion,"
I
got
leave
to
attend
the
recruiting
office
and
offer
my
services
to
my
King
and
Country.
At
the
time,
the
fact
that
the
envelope
was
sealed
caused
no
suspicion
and
I
had
been
comfortably
carrying
the
document
about
in
my
pocket
for
days
past.
Of
course
I
attended
merely
as
a
matter
of
form
under
pressure
of
the
authorities,
as
I
knew
I
was
totally
unfit--but
not
quite
how
unfit.
After
receiving
this
precious
certificate,
I
learnt
that
K----
was
recruiting
Doctor
at
W----,
and
he
offered
to
"put
me
thro'
in
five
minutes,"
as
he
knows
the
state
of
my
health.
So
at
a
time
agreed
upon,
I
went
to-day
and
was
immediately
rejected
as
soon
as
he
had
stethoscoped
my
heart.
The
certificate
therefore
was
not
needed,
and
coming
home
in
the
train
I
opened
it
out
of
curiosity....
I
was
quite
casual
and
thought
it
would
be
merely
interesting
to
see
what
M----
said.
It
was.
"Some
18
months
ago,"
it
ran,
"Mr.
Barbellion
shewed
the
just
visible
symptoms
of
----
----"
and
altho'
this
fact
was
at
once
communicated
to
my
relatives
it
was
withheld
from
me
and
M----
therefore
asked
the
M.O.
to
respect
this
confidence
and
to
reject
me
without
stating
on
what
grounds.
He
went
on
to
refer
to
my
patellar
and
plantar
reflexes,
by
which
time
I
had
had
enough,
tore
the
paper
up
and
flung
it
out
of
the
railway
carriage
window.
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