XXVI—TRAINING FOR SERVICE

One must have a trained mind, if only in order to reach the height of one’s physical possibilities, and all-round efficiency depends much upon the kind of training described in the foregoing talks. The “School of Savagery” is no haphazard thing, but a system of education which has been long in the building, and which produces results. Ingenuity, faithfulness, and self-reliance will accomplish wonderful things in civilized life as well as in wild life, but, to my mind, individuality and initiative are more successfully developed in the out-of-door man. Where the other man is regarded more than self, duty is sweeter and more inspiring, patriotism more sacred, and friendship is a true and eternal bond.

The Indian is trained in the natural way, which means that he is kept in close contact with the natural world. Incidentally, he finds himself, and is conscious of his relation to all life. The spiritual world is real to him. The splendor of life stands out pre-eminently, while beyond all, and in all, dwells the Great Mystery, unsolved and unsolvable, except in those things which it is good for his own spirit to know.

The good things of earth are not his to hold against his brothers, but they are his to use and enjoy together with his fellows, to whom it is his privilege to bring them. In seeking thus, he develops a wholesome, vigorous body and mind, to which all exertion seems play, rather than painful toil for possession’s sake. Happy, rollicking, boy man! Gallant, patriotic, public-spirited—in the Indian is the lusty youth of humanity. He is always ready to undertake the impossible, or to impoverish himself to please his friend.

Most of all he values the opportunity of being a minute-man—a Scout! Every boy, from the very beginning of his training, is an embryo public servant. He puts into daily practice the lessons that in this way become part of himself. There are no salaries, no “tips,” no prizes to work for. He takes his pay in the recognition of the community and the consciousness of unselfish service. Let us have more of this spirit of the American Indian, the Boy Scout’s prototype, to leaven the brilliant selfishness of our modern civilization!

THE END

Books for Children

BY

CHARLES A. and ELAINE G. EASTMAN

WIGWAM EVENINGS

Illustrated by E. W. Deming. 12mo. $1.20 net.

Dr. Eastman is a full-blooded Sioux who spent much of his youth in a wigwam, so that these twenty-seven Indian myths have the great merit of being told at first hand.

The stories are charming in their simplicity and faithfulness, and are told by writers who are familiar and sympathetic with Indian thought.—Philadelphia Public Ledger.

YELLOW STAR

Fully illustrated. 12mo. $1.20 net.

The appealing story of an Indian girl who came to live in a New-England village and who became one of the most popular of girls, leading in scholarship, quickness, and resourcefulness.

Woven incidents of school and play, swift successions of interesting things to do, all natural and lifelike, and a persuasive out-of-doors atmosphere, brighten the story from first to last.—Washington Star.

INDIAN SCOUT TALKS

With frontispiece. 12mo. 80 cents net.

This book represents the actual experiences of its author, and should be an admirable guide for Boy Scouts and Camp-fire Girls.

LITTLE, BROWN & CO., Publishers

34 BEACON STREET, BOSTON