And don't forget, whenever you do lose a game, if you are a true scout, you will at once cheer the winning team or shake hands with and congratulate the fellow who has beaten you.
This rule will be carried out in all games and competitions among Boy Scouts.
Loyalty.—Loyalty was, above all, one of the distinguishing points about the knights. They were always devotedly loyal to their King and to their country, and were always ready and eager to die in their defence. In the same way a follower of the Knights should be loyal not only to the King but also to everyone who is above him, whether his officers or employers, and he should stick to them through thick and thin as part of his duty.
He should also be equally loyal to his own friends and should support them in evil times as well as in good times.
Loyalty to duty was shown by the Roman soldier of old who stuck to his post when the city of Pompeii was overwhelmed with ashes and lava from the volcano Vesuvius. His remains are still there, with his hand covering his mouth and nose to prevent the suffocation which in the end overcame him.
His example was followed at some manoeuvres not long ago by a cadet of Reigate Grammar School who when posted as sentry was accidentally left on his post when the field day was over. But though night came on and it was very cold—in November last—the lad stuck to his post till he was found in the middle of the night, half-perished with cold, but alive and alert.
OBEDIENCE AND DISCIPLINE.
Discipline and obedience are as important as bravery for scouts and for soldiers.
The Birkenhead was a transport-ship carrying troops. She had on board 630 soldiers with their families and 130 seamen. Near the Cape of Good Hope one night, she ran on to some rocks, and began to break up. The soldiers were at once paraded on deck. Some were told off to get out the boats, and to put the women and children into them, and others were told off to get the horses up out of the hold, and to lower them overboard into the sea in order that they might have a chance of swimming ashore. When this had all been done it was found that there were not enough boats to take the men, and so the men were ordered to remain in their ranks. Then the ship broke in half and began to go down. The Captain shouted to the men to jump over and save themselves, but the Colonel, Colonel Seaton, said "No, keep your ranks." For he saw that if they swam to the boats and tried to get in they would probably sink them too. So the men kept their ranks and as the ship rolled over and sank they gave a cheer and went down with her. Out of the whole 760 on board, only 192 were saved, but even those would probably have been lost had it not been for the discipline and self-sacrifice of the others.
Last year a British Training Ship, the Fort Jackson, full of boy-sailors was run into by a steamer, but just as on the Birkenhead there was no panic or crying out. The boys fell in quickly on parade, put on their lifebelts, and faced the danger calmly and well. And not a life was lost.