So at last it came about that it was a very enthusiastic girl who perched upon the arm of her grandfather’s chair on the evening of the day when she attended her first rally.
“Just think, Grad,” she exclaimed, “there are ever so many tests I don’t have to bother about. You have already taught me how to tie more than four knots, so I can check those off. The girls were so surprised that I knew so many, but when I told them I belonged to the navy they understood.”
“You belong to the navy?” Her grandfather softly pinched her cheek.
“Why, of course. Haven’t you always belonged, and didn’t my father? Of course I knew the names of governors of states, only the District of Columbia doesn’t have any, and Washington hasn’t any mayor. As for the history of the flag and how to fly it, I’d be a poor sort of granddaughter to a navy man if I didn’t know that much. There are ten Scout laws, and I think I know them perfectly. Don’t you want to hear me say them, Grad?”
“Most certainly.”
Joanne jumped down and stood rigidly before her grandfather. “First comes the promise,” she began; “I must promise to try to do three things: To do my duty to God and my country. To help other people at all times. To obey the laws of the Scouts. The laws are these: ‘A Girl Scout’s honor is to be trusted. A Girl Scout is loyal. A Girl Scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others. A Girl Scout is a friend to all and a sister to every other Girl Scout. A Girl Scout is courteous. A Girl Scout keeps herself pure. A Girl Scout is a friend to animals. A Girl Scout obeys orders. A Girl Scout is cheerful. A Girl Scout is thrifty.’”
“Fine! Fine!” cried her grandfather when she had finished. “I hope my little Puss will be able to keep those laws.”
“It’s going to be pretty hard to keep them all but I shall try very, very hard, for I am just crazy to become a Golden Eaglet.”
“And what’s that, pray?”
“Well, you see first you’re a Tenderfoot, then you are a Second Class Scout, then a First Class; just like the middies, you know. Well, when you have passed the tests for a whole lot of things, fourteen or something, you can become a Golden Eaglet. You can get badges for other things, too. I think I can pass the test for Interpreter and I know something about signalling and I can swim a little, but there are ever so many more; I will show you the list in my handbook. Oh, Grad, it is a perfect cinch that I can go to Cousin Ned’s, for that’s where I shall practise horsemanship and farming.”