Then Dunston changed towards the Boy Scouts, and said such of us as liked might join them; and about twenty did. We were allowed to hunt about in couples on half-holidays; and the rule for a Boy Scout is always to be on the look-out to justify his existence when scouting, and to assist people, and help the halt and the lame, and tell people the way if they want to know it, and buck about generally, and, if possible, never stop a bit of scouting till he’s done a good action of some kind to somebody. Of course, we had to do our good actions in bounds, and Travers minor often pointed out, as a rather curious thing, that over and over again there were chances to do good actions if we’d gone out of bounds--sometimes even over a hedge into a field.
But he generally found something useful to do, and I generally didn’t. The good action that occurred oftenest was to give pennies to tramps, but Travers did not support this. He said:
"I dare say you’ve noticed, Briggs, that all these chaps who ask us for money have got starving families at home. Well, if it’s true, they ought to be at home looking after them. But it isn’t true. As a rule, they spend the money on beer. And when you ask them why they haven’t enlisted, they all say they’re too short, or too tall, or haven’t got any back teeth, or something."
We were scouting the day Travers minor pointed this out, and that was the very afternoon that we met the best tramp of the lot. I should have believed him myself and tried to help him; but Travers, strangely enough, is much kinder to animals and dumb creatures in general than he is to men, especially tramps, and it took a very clever tramp to make him believe him. But this one did.
He was old and grizzled and grey, and his moustache was yellow with tobacco. He was sitting rolling a cigarette in the hedge, and as we passed together in uniform with our scout poles, he got up and saluted us with a military salute.
"What a bit of luck!" he said. "You’re just the chaps I’m on the look-out for."
"D’you want anything, my good man?" said Travers.
"Yes, I do. I want a sharp Boy Scout to listen to me. I’m telling secrets, mind you; but you’re in the Service just as much as I am, and I can trust you."