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Little Mynthurst Farm,
near Horley,
Surrey

January 3rd 1917

Dear Buchan

May I send you a line which requires no answer just to
congratulate you on "The Green Mantle". I was laid up in
a nursing home the other day and found it the greatest possible
solace.

I had to undergo a slight operation and was put under an
anaesthetic. There was a discussion afterwards as to whether I
was properly unconscious. I claimed that I was not. The doctor
said that I was, and thought to prove it by saying that I was
talking nonsense and was asking for a 'green mantle'.

I then showed them that it proved my sanity, as I
wanted them to give me the book of that name so that I could go on reading and
forget the pain!

Best luck to you

Yours sincerely

Robert Baden Powell