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YOUNG KNIGHTS OF THE EMPIRE

THEIR CODE AND FURTHER SCOUT YARNS

BY

SIR ROBERT BADEN-POWELL K.C.B., K.C.V.O., LL.D.

AUTHOR OF "SCOUTING FOR BOYS," "YARNS FOR BOY SCOUTS," "SCOUTING
GAMES," "MY ADVENTURES AS A SPY," ETC.

1917



FOREWORD


TO BOY-MEN,--

In offering this collection of yarns, I do not suggest that these are
anything more than further illustrations of the steps already schemed
in _Scouting for Boys_ for self-education in character and good
citizenship.

But illustrations by themselves are of comparatively little value
unless the theories and ideas conveyed by them are also put into
actual and habitual practice.

It is in this that the boy needs your encouragement.

                                 ROBERT BADEN-POWELL




YOUNG KNIGHTS OF THE EMPIRE




THE SCOUT LAW

Perhaps you wonder what is a Young Knight of the Empire.

Well, you know what a knight is--or rather, used to be in the old
days--a gallant fellow who was always ready to defend weaker people
when they were being bullied; he was brave and honourable, and ready
to risk his life in doing his duty according to the code or law of
Chivalry.

Well, nowadays there are thousands of boys all over the British Empire
carrying out the same idea, and making themselves into fine, reliable
men, ready to take the place of those who have gone away to fight and
who have fallen at the Front. These are the Boy Scouts. Their code is
the Scout Law--that is, a set of ten rules which they carry out in
their daily life.

I will explain these Laws, and will give you some other yarns of camp
life and adventure such as the Scouts go in for.

HONOUR

Law 1. A SCOUT'S HONOUR IS TO BE TRUSTED.

_If a Scout says "On my honour it is so," that means it is so, just
as if he had taken a most solemn oath._

_Similarly if a Scout officer says to a Scout, "I trust you on your
honour to do this," the Scout is bound to carry out the order to the
very best of his ability, and to let nothing interfere with his doing
so._

_If a Scout were to break his honour by telling_ a lie, or_ by
not carrying out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so,
he may be directed to hand over his Scout badge and never wear it
again. He may also be directed to cease to be a Scout._

People of a civilised country, just like boys in a school, are bound
to conduct themselves in a proper manner, because of the law which
causes them to be punished if they misbehave. There is a code of laws
drawn up for this purpose.

But there is another kind of law which binds people just as much as
their written laws, though this one is neither written nor published.

This unwritten law is Honour.

A boy who has clambered over the school wall to go out of bounds and
smoke secretly has committed an offence against the published law of
the school. If next day the master asks in school, "Who has broken out
of bounds?" the boy is not bound by the law to confess that he did; he
can remain silent and thus escape punishment; but he is a
poor-spirited creature if he does so, and has no sense of honour. If
he is honourable he will manfully and honestly tell the master that he
broke out and will stand whatever punishment comes of it. By so doing
he will have proved to the master and to the other boys that he is
manly and not afraid to tell the truth, and is to be relied upon
because he puts his honour before all.

So the first training that the Boy Scout gets is to understand that
Honour is his own private law which is guided by his conscience, and
that once he is a Scout he must be guided in all his doings by his
sense of Honour.


LOYALTY

Law 2. A SCOUT IS LOYAL to the King, and to his officers, and to his
parents, his Country, his employers, and to those under his orders. He
must stick to them through thick and thin against anyone who is their
enemy or who even talks badly of them.

There was a Scoutmaster in the East End of London who when the war
broke out felt it his duty to give up the splendid work he was doing
amongst the poor boys of the East End in order to take up service for
his Country.

Scoutmaster Lukis--for that is his name--felt bound, by his sense of
loyalty to his King and his Country, to give up the life he was then
living and face the dangers of soldiering on active service.

But the example which he set in loyalty was promptly followed by some
eighty young fellows who were his Scouts or Old Scouts.

Their loyalty to him made them wish to follow their leader wherever
his duty led him. So they became soldiers like himself and all went
together to the Front.

A day came when the trenches which they were holding were heavily
shelled. The danger was great and the losses were heavy, and finally a
piece of shrapnel struck Captain Lukis in the leg and shattered his
thigh. Two of his East London Boy Scout's sprang to his assistance and
tended him with devoted care. They waited for a lull in the firing and
finally between them they carried him, although exposed to a deadly
fire, to a place of safety. While so doing one of them was hit and
severely wounded.

But the spirit of the lads was splendid. They cared nothing for their
own safety so that they got their beloved Scoutmaster out of danger.
That was loyalty.

Loyalty means faithfulness. Your dog is faithful to you and sticks to
you even though you may beat him. He overlooks your faults and your
unkindness and remains loyal to you.

Loyalty begins at home.

Some boys are always thinking that their parents are wrong or unfair
to them. If you think that your parents have any faults, don't look at
those faults. Be loyal to your parents; remember only that it is
thanks to them that you are alive and able to be a Scout.

Obey your parents, believe in them, and respect them; if you can at
any time help them, do so. By doing these things you are being loyal
to them. By being loyal to them you are carrying out that commandment
of the Bible which says: "Honour thy father and thy mother." Be loyal,
also, in the same way-by obeying and thinking no evil and by backing
them up-to your Patrol-leader, your Scoutmaster, and your
schoolmaster. If you are a working boy carry out the same idea towards
your foreman, your manager, and your employer.

On taking up your work, you have agreed to do a certain amount for a
certain wage, and it is loyalty on your part then to stick to that
agreement and to give good work in return for your pay.

If, on the other hand, you are a well-to-do boy and come to have a
servant or a man working under you as you grow older, you should
equally be loyal to him. Remember that in taking him on you expect a
certain amount of work from him for the money you give him; if you
find that he gives you more work than you agreed for, you will be
acting loyally to him if you then increase his wage: but never go back
on your agreement, and do not try to make more money out of him than
you meant to do when first making the contract. So, too, if you are a
Patrol or other leader, and if those under you get into trouble
through carrying out your ideas, be loyal to them; own up that it was
through your fault that they did wrong.

Whatever line of life you may be in, be loyal to God, to your King,
and to your Country.

       *       *       *       *       *

ANTARCTIC SCOUTING.

All Boy Scouts know of Sir Ernest Shackleton, a brother peace-scout of
the Empire--and a first-class one, too