sub FETCH {
  my ($self, $n) = @_;
  my $rec;

  # check the defer buffer
  $rec = $self->{deferred}{$n} if exists $self->{deferred}{$n};
  $rec = $self->_fetch($n) unless defined $rec;

  # inlined _chomp1
  substr($rec, - $self->{recseplen}) = ""
    if defined $rec && $self->{autochomp};
  $rec;
}