The Go Ahead Boys

“ The Go Ahead Boys laughed but their interest was too keen in the men who now in the distance could be seen more distinctly.
"You don't suppose those two strange white men can be coming back here, do you?" inquired Grant in a whisper.
"Yes, that is just who they are," replied Kitoni. "Look yonder!" he added as he pointed in the direction in which Zeke and the Navajo had departed.
Two other men also were seen coming from that direction and no effort was required to induce the Go Ahead Boys to believe that Zeke and his companion were returning to the camp. ”

“ I'm getting worried."
"What are you afraid of, Pee Wee?" laughed George, who thus far apparently was unmoved by the anxiety of his friend.
"I'm afraid something will happen that won't do us any good," said Fred.
The fears of the Go Ahead Boy were not expressed, however, for at that moment above the rim of the Gulch appeared the tall form of the white man who had been the companion of the man with the scar.
Blankly the Go Ahead Boys stared at this latest addition to their party, but not one of them was able to offer any explanation of his coming. ”

“ My father says that the man or boy who tries to be popular never is.”
“And your father is dead right too,” said Grant quickly, turning to his friend.
“Yes, sir, he’s all right,” responded John.
CHAPTER XXI—AN EXPLANATION IN PART
It was the middle of the afternoon when the Go Ahead boys returned to George’s home. Apparently they had not been cast down by their failure to obtain information concerning the missing car. ”

“ Boys and girls also can be divided into two classes, like ships. Some depend upon other boys and girls to make them go; others have the "go" in themselves. These people with the "go" in themselves we call "go-ahead" sort of people. They are the boys and girls who become leaders. The others are followers.
What the world most needs is these "go-ahead" people. There are plenty of people who go like a sailing vessel when there is something from the outside to send them along. I heard a man say the other day that another man was like "a chip in a pan of milk;" ”

“ The author has no desire to make his young heroes either preternaturally brilliant or possessed of too precocious brains. They are normal, healthy American boys fond of travel and adventure and naturally are meeting experiences such as come to men doing what they were doing in certain parts of our country. ”

“ They know the country thoroughly; they have, not one, but many places to which they can retreat, and when hard pressed or sorely wounded, they go to their retreats, where they are nursed and cared for until they choose to go away.
Again, there may be, and doubtless are, a few persons who have known the Boys from early childhood—knew their father before them—and afterward remembered the deeds performed by them in a cause which they regarded as right, who are loth to believe that the Boys are brigands and robbers. ”

“ George suggested.
“The first sensible idea yet, Pop,” exclaimed Grant. “Come on, everybody.”
Helter skelter and making as fast time as they could, the little party set out to retrace their steps to their landing place. Fear filled their hearts, not only on account of the disappearance of their boat, but also because there was the chance that some one else was on the island who might have stolen it. Not that the boys would not have been glad to see other people, but because they feared that the strangers might turn out to be enemies. ”

“ You know you are all my boys, and wherever you go in the future, whatever you do, you will still be ‘the boys’ to me, no matter how old and gray, or how famous and renowned you may become. And so I want my boys to always be as true and pure and high in their aims, as honorable in their every-day lives as they are to-day. I have been looking around at you since I have been sitting here, and I am proud and glad to see that every one of you looks me squarely in the eye, and holds up his head like a man and a soldier. ”

“ In this degraded state, with the energy and curiosity of their young minds blunted—actually nauseating the intellectual food which they had once so naturally desired, a whole batch of boys at the age of about fourteen [1] are released from their schools to go on board men of war, where they are to strive to become the heroes of their day. ”

“ They have all the fun, those fellows do. They can swear and chew tobacco, and play hookey from school and have a good time. They get to go barefoot before anybody else, and nobody tells them it will thin their blood to go in swimming so much. Yes, and they can fight, too. They'd sooner fight than eat. Our boys, conscious of inferiority, keep to themselves. The boys from across the tracks show off all the bad words they can think of. ”

“ Somehow at last Fred found himself in the long, shaded lane or driveway that led from the road up to the house of his friend. The trees were tall poplars and stood like sentinels guarding each side of the road. Even now Fred’s fears had not disappeared, although he saw the lights gleam from the windows of the old farmhouse before him. ”

“ The wind had been steadily increasing in violence since the fire started and now was blowing almost a gale. It whipped the waves into foam and whistled and shrieked through the rigging. The fire, fanned by the breeze, now roared menacingly while its volume increased steadily. ”

“ He has little ambition beyond 'a ribboned coat' and a seat at the high table. His horizon is contracted, and his behaviour is that of those who do not believe in a survival after death. He places an undue value upon the immediate and the present. The preparatory school boy always looks ahead to a future stage of life. And so it is that, when the last day at school comes, he is not the victim of the surprised sentimentality that overcomes the public school boy. He has begun to feel that he has outgrown his surroundings. ”

“ I wonder if any feel that they would like to become boys again and go to school over again, being sure that, with their present experience of life, they would set a higher value on the education of the schools. I wonder if any feel that they would have reached higher positions and secured a larger influence if they had been more diligent at school. I wonder if there are any who can trace evil habits of thought to the companions they had here. ”

“ Gained in the Pre-Revolutionary wars by lads of pluck and intelligence. Every true boy will be fascinated with these stories of the exciting adventures of boys who gladly gave their lives to freedom’s cause. ”

“ A lull had now come over the crew and the four young friends were unconsciously affected by it. Now there was not a breath of air stirring; the sails hung heavy and motionless from the yards. Blacker and blacker grew the sky; the stillness all about became appalling. No one spoke a word, but every one stood around as though waiting for something serious to happen. The crew was gathered about the forward hatchway silently watching the approach of the storm. ”

“ Boys don’t like to go gunning, and come home empty-handed. When they went with him, they always brought home game with them; for if they couldn’t shoot anything, he could. These attractions enabled him to exert a great215 influence over them, which he improved to the noblest ends, and made impressions that were never eradicated. ”

“ Ah, no! ‘The Boys’’ standard is bravery. ‘White men’ they know and understand. The puppets of the party whips they will blow away like chaff whirled before a storm. And out of their suffering will come sanity, peace, goodwill to men and nations. ”

“ As the boys saw and heard all this, and saw how respected those men were who had done the most and bravest things, they said to themselves, "That man was once a boy like us, and we, if we have strong hearts, may do as much as he has done." ”

“ Who remember when ploughshares were cleft into swords;
When hushed was the voice of youth’s laughter and mirth,
As the flag, broken-winged, fluttered, bleeding, to earth.
Are there men who will cherish their country’s last breath?
Are there three hundred thousand who love—to the death?
Hark!—the answering cry to that agonized call—
And the Latin-School boys are the foremost of all!
We have proved we’ve a banner, a country, a God,
By thousands of arguments—under the sod!
Who knows if the dear boys who fell in the fight
May not hold their reunion, as we do, to-night? ”

“ He had the rare art of hitting off boy-nature, with just that spice of wickedness in it without which a boy is not a boy. His heroes have always the charm of bounding, youthful energy, and youth’s invincible hopefulness, and the constant flow of good spirits which have made the boys of all time perennially interesting. ”

“ Oho, boys!—oho, boys!—oho!
Here, brothers, secure from all turmoil and danger,
We reap what we sow, for the soil is our own;
We spread hospitality's board for the stranger,
And care not a jot for the king on his throne.
We never know want, for we live by our labor,
And in it contentment and happiness find;
We do what we can for a friend or a neighbor,
And die, boys, in peace and good-will to mankind.
Then enter, boys; cheerly, boys, enter and rest;
You know how we live, boys, and die in the West!
Oho, boys!—oho, boys!—oho!
Song of Marion's Men. ”

“ We will not judge harshly all those who now are given over to such innocent amusements. For the delicate white hand, the girlish student face, the timid mamma's boy, taken from the prayer meeting and the Christian Endeavor Society, once taught to see the great truths of social salvation and [107] human progress, does not always retreat in holy horror when confronted with conflict and the smoke of battle. On the other hand, such timid, singing, praying boys often become National heroes. ”

“ COMPANION BOOKS FOR BOY SCOUTS
“The Lend-A-Hand Boys”—a group of boys who stick together through thick and thin, through high adventure and scrapes. They are always trying to do some good and have a tough time doing so. ”

“ Whenever or wherever a manly boy says his word for justice and for right, or does his simple duty in a simple, straightforward way, regardless of consequences or of the world's far too-ready sneer or frown, the stamp of the hero may be seen; and however humble his condition or contracted his sphere there is in him the mettle and the possibilities that may make him, even though he know it not, a worthy claimant for an honored place on the world's record of Historic Boys. ”

“ And I think what we are about to do will be for the best interests of all of us, especially of our boys. We are proud of them in spite of the fact that they are sometimes a little too careless, and we want to continue to be proud of you, boys. ”

“ Heavy blows were exchanged, and blood flowed freely from many of their heads and faces, for in those days boys thought less than they do now of hard knocks, and manliness and courage were considered the first of virtues. ”

“ Look at the miserable smattering of general information—just enough to serve as sauce for their great first and last lesson of 'Obey the powers that be'—whatever they be; leave us alone in our comforts, and starve patiently; do, like good boys, for it's God's will. And then, if a boy does show talent in school, do they help him up in life? ”

“ Perhaps there was one thing that day that they liked better; that was at the railway station when their father said, just before bidding them good-bye,—
“You boys have gone away to rival schools and fought each other, and it seems to me it’s only made you care the more for each other. I’m proud of you both. I don’t know which is the better boy—or which is the better school.” ”

“ They have wonderful schemes for inspiring boys with a love of the beautiful, with an interest in politics and life. They are prepared to be ruthless in their battle; they will neither ask nor give quarter. They will not be fettered to the reactionary indolence of the intolerant and the effete. They have a mission and a purpose. They bring a sword. They arrive at school with a quenchless ardour.
Like the small boy home for the holidays, they want to do everything on the first day. ”

“ It is evident that nearly all the activities of boys in their group life are not injurious but wholesome, or can readily be made so. What grown people too often interpret as done from evil motives the boys in the gang do from their love of fun. The educational world has not yet taken the interesting view point, that in the group activities of boys are cultivated the great fundamental virtues, coöperation, self-sacrifice, and loyalty. ”

“ My dear Boys:—As doubtless you well know, the early pioneer days were times that tried men's souls. And boys, hardly in their teens, were taught, in the bitter school of experience, that they must always live up to the old Puritan motto, "Trust in the Lord; but keep your powder dry." These same lads early learned to be self-dependent, and to fight their own battles.
Steeped in this atmosphere, the names of many heroic early settlers have come down to us through the pages of history. We all delight to read of their bold achievements, for they were men of whom the country must ever be proud. ”

“ Just Boys
Be patient with the boys. You are dealing with soul-stuff. Destiny awaits just around the corner. Boys evolve into men, and men sometimes change the boundary-lines of States. They make political parties; they crown kings, and they put them to flight. They bring contention or they make peace. They may build or they may destroy. But boys misused, abused, betrayed, never forget and seldom forgive. ”

“ I have tried the perils which our boys will have to suffer, but, unfortunately, I am too old to fight with them.
“It is a great privilege they enjoy—that of going out to battle for honor and decency and the good of the world. They have entered the great university of common sense. There is no other like it. What a school is that comradeship of the camp and the trenches! For the first time in history the whole civilized world stands shoulder to shoulder.” ”