Sir Harry said he didn’t know people could have their appendix out twice.
Matron said Sir Harry would have his joke, but it wasn’t appendix that Private Jenks was to be operated for this time. It was, she said, something More Serious, which made Sir Harry wish he had not spoken. “It does seem a shame,” Matron continued, “just when we were so pleased with him, and I consider that the Barchester General ought never to have sent him to a convalescent home. What is the use of the War Office taking over the hospital if they send men out when they aren’t fit? As I was saying to Nurse Poulter, it is in and out, in and out, all the time.”
“He seems to be in and out of the backyard pretty often,” said Sir Harry, who was apt to use the back entrance if his boots were muddy, or as a short cut to th
