Robert Robert - Scouting for Boys

instance, it you see a train starting off, just pray for God’s blessing on all that are in the train.

In doing your duty towards man, be helpful and generous, and also always be grateful for any kindness done to you, and be careful to show that you are grateful. Remember again that a present given to you is not yours until you have thanked the giver for it.

While you are living your life on this earth, try to do something good which may remain after you.

One writer says: “I often think that when the sun goes down the world is hidden by a big blanket from the light of heaven, but the stars are little holes pierced in that blanket by those who have done good deeds in this world. The stars are not all the same size; some are big, some are little, and some men have done great deeds and others have done small deeds, but they have made their hole in the blanket by doing good before they went to heaven.”

Try and make your hole in the blanket by good work while you are on the earth.

It is something to be good, but it is far better to do good.

A Scout is active in DOING GOOD, not passive in BEING GOOD. It is his duty to be helpful and generous to other people.

Thrift

It is a funny thing that out of you boys who now read these words, some are certain to become rich men, and some may die in poverty and misery. It pretty well depends on your own selves which you are going to do.

And you can very soon tell which your future is going to be.

The fellow who begins making money as a boy will go on making it as a man. You may find it difficult to do it at first, but it will come easier later on. If you begin and go on, remember, you are pretty certain to succeed in the end—especially if you get your money by hard work.

There are many ways in which a boy can earn money—from painting a fence and tending a garden to running errands.

If you only try to make it by easy means—that is by betting, say on a horse race—you are bound to lose after a time. Nobody who makes bets ever wins in the end; it is the book-maker, the man who receives the bets, who scores. Yet there are thousands of fools who go on putting their money on, because they won a bit once or hope to win some day.

Any number of poor boys have become rich men. But in nearly every case it was because they meant to do so from the first. They worked for it, and put every penny they could make into the bank to begin with. So each one of you has the chance, if you like to take it. The knights of old were ordered by their rules to be thrifty, not to expend large sums on their own enjoyment, but to save it in order that they might keep themselves, and not be a burden to others, and also so that they might have more to give away in charity. If they had no money of their own, they were not allowed to beg for it, but had to work and make it in one way or another. Thus money-making goes with manliness, hard work, and sobriety.

How Scouts Make Money

There are many ways by which a Scout, or a Patrol working together, can make money, such as:

Repairing and re-covering old furniture is a very paying trade. Picture frames, bird boxes, toys, can easily be sold. Breeding canaries, chickens, or rabbits pay well. So does beekeeping.

Collect old packing-cases and boxes, and chop them into bundles of firewood. Keeping goats and selling their milk will pay in some places. Basket-making, pottery, book-binding, etc., all bring money.

A Patrol can make money by collecting old metal and waste paper.

Or a Patrol working together can form a corps of messenger boys in a country town, or start a garden and work it for selling vegetables and flowers, or make a minstrel troupe or perform Scouting displays or pageants.

These are only a few suggestions. There are loads of other ways of making money which you can think out for yourself, according to the place you are in.

But in order to get money you must expect to work.

The actor, Ted Payne, used to say in one of his plays, “I don’t know what is wrong with me. I eat well, I drink well, and I sleep well; but somehow whenever anybody mentions the word ‘work’ to me, I get a cold shudder all over me”. There are a good many other chicken-hearted fellows, who, when any work faces them, “get a cold shudder all over them”.

Start a money box, put any money you can make into that, and when you have got a fair amount in it, hand it over to a bank, and start an account for yourself.

HOW TO GET ON

A good man years ago the United States was at war on the island of Cuba.

The American President McKinley wanted to send a letter to Garcia, the Cuban leader, but did not know how to get it to him, as the rebels were fighting with the Americans in wild and difficult country.

When he was talking it over with his advisers, someone said: “There’s a young man called Rowan who seems to be able to get anything done that you ask him. Why not try him?”

So Rowan was sent for, and when he came in, the President explained why he had sent for him, putting the letter in his hand, said, “Now, I want that letter taken to Garcia.

Rowan simply smiled and accepted the letter. He walked out of the room and set out.

On this map of Central America and the Caribbean Sea you will find the

island of Cuba through which Rowan travelled to find Garcia.

Some weeks passed, and Rowan appeared again before the President and said, “I gave your letter to Garcia, sir”. Of course McKinley made him explain how he had done it.

It turned out that Rowan had taken a boat, had landed on the coast of Cuba, and had disappeared into the jungle. In three weeks’ time he reappeared on the other side of the island, having gone through the enemy, found Garcia, and given him the letter.

Rowan was a true scout. The way he acted is the way a Scout should carry out an order when he gets it. No matter how difficult it may seem, he should tackle it, with a smile. The more difficult it is, the more interesting it will be to carry out.

Rowan did his duty, kicking the IM out of the word IMPOSSIBLE.

Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.

Most fellows would have asked a lot of questions—how they were to set about it, how they could get to the place, where they were to get food from, and so on. But not so Rowan. He merely learned what duty was wanted of him, and then did the rest without a word, kicking the IM out of the word IM-POSSIBLE. Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.

A lot of Scouts do special messenger service. These lads, from having difficult jobs frequently given them and being expected to carry them out successfully, take them on with the greatest confidence, and, without asking a lot of silly questions, they start off in

a businesslike way, and do them.

That is the way to deal with any difficulty in life. If you get a job or have a trouble that seems to you to be too big for you, don’t shirk it. Smile, think out a way by which you might get successfully through with it, and then go at it.