CHAPTER XXI

THE FULL SALUTE

Great applause greeted Mr. Temple.  He said: 

    “Gentlemen of our camp staff, visiting scoutmasters, and scouts: 

“A friend of mine connected with the scout organization told me that he heard a scout say that Temple Camp without Uncle Jeb would be like strawberry short cake without any strawberries. (Great applause) I think that most scouts, including our young friend in back, would wish three helpings of Uncle Jeb. (Laughter)

“Coming from the bustling city, as I do, it is refreshing to see Uncle Jeb for I have never in all my life seen him in a hurry.  (Laughter) All scouts can claim Uncle Jeb, he is the universal award that every boy scout wears in his heart. (Uproarious applause)

    “Scouts, this is a gala day for me.  It beats three helpings of
    dessert——­”

“Sometimes we get four,” the irrepressible voice shouted.

    “I have been honored by the privilege of coming here to visit you in
    these quiet hills——­”

A voice:  “Sometimes it isn’t so quiet.”

“and to distribute the awards which your young heroes have earned.  You can all be scouts; you cannot all be heroes.  That is well, for as the old song says, ’When every one is somebody then no one’s anybody.’ (Laughter)

“I wonder how many of you scouts who are down for these awards realize what the awards mean?  They are not simply prizes given for feats—­or stunts, as you call them.  To win a high honor merely as a stunt is to win it unfairly.  Every step that a scout takes in the direction of a coveted honor should be a step in scouting.  The Gold Cross is given not to one who saves life, but to a scout that saves life.  Before you can win any honors in this great brotherhood, you must first be a scout.  And that means that you must have the scout qualities.

    “Scouting is no game to be won or lost, like baseball.  After all,
    the high award is not for what you do alone, but for what you
    are.  You are not to use scouting as a means to an end.

“In trying for a high award a scout is not running a race with other scouts.  There is no spirit of contest in scouting.  To be a hero, even that is not enough.  One must be a scout hero.  He must not use the animals and birds and the woods to help in his quest of glory, whether it be troop glory or individual glory.  He must not ask the birds and animals to tell him their secrets simply that he may win a piece of silver or gold to hang on his coat.  But he must learn to be a friend to the birds and animals.  For that is true scouting.

“You will notice that on the scout stationery is printed our good motto, ’Do a good turn daily.’ There is nothing there about high awards.  Evidently the good turn