Page:Handbook for Boys.djvu/267

246 once said, "I can't hear what you say for what you another one said, "Your life speaks louder than your words." It was not the wools of the knights of old that told what they were. It was their strong life and fine character that gave power to their words and the thrust to their spears.

It is necessary that a boy should live right and possess such a character as will help h}m to do the hardest things of life. Every boy should remember that he is in reality just what he is when alone in the dark. The great quests of the knights were most often done singly and alone.

Will Another thing that entered into the make-up of a knight was an iron will. He had staying powers because he willed to stick; and the way he trained his will to do the hard things was to keep himself doing the small things. Not long ago, there was a lad whom the boys nicknamed "Blockey" and "Wooden Man." When they played ball in the school play ground, Blockey never caught the ball. When they worked together in the gymnasium, Blockey was always left out of the game because he couldn't do things, and was slow and unwieldy in his motions. But one day, a great challange came over Blockey and he began to train his will. He worked hard in the gymnasium: he learned to catch the ball, and, by sticking to it, was not only able to catch the ball but became proficient. Then there came a time when the first one chosen Upon the team was Blockey; and it all came about because he had trained his will so that when he .made up his mind to do a thing, he did it.

Thrift Another thing which entered into the training of a knight was his readiness to seize his opportunities. The motto of the scout is "Be Prepared." He should be prepared for whatever opportunity presents itself. An interesting story is told by Orison Swett Marden. He says that a lad, who later became one of the millionaires of one of our great Western cities, began his earning career by taking advantage of an opportunity that came to him as he was passing an auction shop. He saw several boxes of a kind of soap which his mother was accustomed to buy from the family grocer. Hastening to the grocery store he asked the price of the soap. "Twelve cents a pound" was the reply. On being pressed for a lower figure the shopkeeper remarked in a bantering tone that he would buy all that the boy could bring to his store at