They were exceedingly simple in their dress and habits. They fought the Indians, not because they wished to, but because it was necessary to protect their wives and children from the raids of the savages. They knew all the things that scouts ought to know. They were acquainted with the woods and the fields; knew where the best fish were robe caught; understood the trees, the signs and blazes, the haunts of animals and how to track them; how to find their way by the stars; how to make themselves comfortable in the heart of the primeval forest; and such other things as are classed under the general term of woodcraft. And, with all this, they inherited the splendid ideas of chivalry that had been developed in the thousand years preceding them, and fitted these ideas to the conditions of their own day, standing solidly against evil and falsehood whenever they lifted their head among them. They were not perfect, but they did their best to be of service to those who came within their reach and worked conscientiously for their country.
Modern Knighthood
A hundred years have passed since then, and the conditions of life which existed west of the Alleghanies are no more. Just
as the life of the pioneers was different from that of the knights
Modern knight
of the Round Table, and as they each practiced chivalry in keeping with their own surroundings, so the life of to-day is different from both, but the need of chivalry is very much the same. Might still tries to make right, and while there are now no robber barons or outlaws with swords and spears, their spirit is not unknown in business and commercial life. Vice and dishonesty lift their heads just as strongly to-day as in the past and there is just as much need of respect for women and girls as there ever was. So to-day there is a demand for a modern type of chivalry. It is for this reason that the Boy Scouts of America have come into being; for there is need of service in these days, and that is represented by the good turn done to somebody every day. Doing the good turn daily will help to form the habit of useful service. A boy scout, then, while living in modern times must consider himself the the heir of ancient chivalry
