Baghdad June 25. Dearest Mother. Miss O'Grady! I've duly had her to tea. She is a small, fat, cheerful girl, not class A lady (as you would expect) not even Class B, born and brought up in India; she has never been to England and longs to go. She was quite pleasant and conversible; she stayed an hour till the Van Esses came and dislodged her. She told me a tale which made me laugh - I hope it won't disgust you, Father will certainly like it. She was relating how the nurses have to instruct the Indian orderlies in their duties and how she had been explaining that after a man had been chloroformed, when you put him onto the stretcher, you must lay his head on its side, less he should be sick. At the end of the lecture she questioned the audience: "Can anyone tell me why you should lay the man's head sideways?" Dead silence. At last one bolder than the rest took up the challenge. "Please sister, so that he can see the other patients." I thought that anecdote repaid me for the tea.
Your letter of June 10 - do you know, I haven't heard anything about Capt Cheesman's adventures. Where did you read about them? they sound most interesting. I'm glad that on reflection you like the Arab of Mesopotamia. I've always thought it had good things in it, but I'm gratified to find that you think so too. I loved your account of your journey to a subsequent sojourn at Rounton. And I'm so glad that Moll is better.

As usual I'm going to end up with a request. I have been swimming so vigourously that Marie tells me my bathing costume is wearing out and already has to be darned. Will you please get me another. The kind I like is in two pieces, drawers and jumper, and I like it black with a coloured border of some kind round all the edges. I prefer silk tricotine to silk and I like best a square or V shaped opening at the neck. As to colour if you see something nice in a variegated tricotine (vide enclosed - but this particular one is in silk not tricotine and I don't like that so much) it might be a pleasant change from black. But the colours should show a general tendency to dark blue or green if you understand me.

Bathing clothes are so exiguous that I think it might be sent by letter post by overland mail - they don't normally take parcels. Ever your very affectionate (but tiresome) daughter Gertrude.