And what is the result? Boys of twelve now days become officers in Boy Scout companies. They go in for everything likely to make them _athletic, manly and alert_. At sixteen they have more general knowledge than boys of twenty had twenty-five years ago. And their minds are cleaner, likewise their bodies. Schooling comes easier to them, although the courses are far more advanced. It takes knowledge to get started off right now days. This is an age of _pep_, and the competition of today means _pep vs. pep_. With equal mental preparedness the man with the brawn will stand the gaff that would kill his soft competitor. _Lest we forget_--recreation, a good appetite, a healthy body, and the proper amount of sleep--are positive requirements in _making life worth while_. [Illustration] CHAPTER IV FEEDING THE INTELLECT Feeding the intellect is naturally the most fascinating pursuit in this life and probably will be in the life to come. There is nothing like stocking up the mind, tickling the brain cells, making dents in the cerebellum, for thereby is induced the most _perfect sanity_ and the power to think with precision. It is bully to be able to think straight to the point, and to quickly analyze right down to the bone. Such ability loans us proper respect for ourselves and compels the respect of all with whom we may brush against. Power to think begins with _first realizations_, and thereafter we have only to add fuel to the intellectual fires day by day, month by month, and year by year, until we arrive at that state of mental sufficiency which may happily be termed “the fullness thereof.” Not until we cross this bridge are we safe--not until then will we have come into a state of _sane thinking_--nor will we be _fully alive_! On our march we will have learned to delve with patience, listen with understanding, and communicate with intelligence. Then we may give and take with common understanding with the best of them. What we get we store away for use when needed. Then may we commune with our intellectual equals on the basis of _quid pro quo_--_horse and horse_--“_even Stephen_.” But what a heartache when we cannot give! What a sensation of regret when we find ourselves standing still intellectually while we watch the procession go by. Not capable of giving, likewise we are handicapped in our ability to receive--_we’re hitched to a post_, so to speak, along with other species of lesser understanding. Alongside of us in our journey through life are sure to be men of more than ordinary achievement, who by dint of _special genius_ have accomplished worthy objects most passing well--something that brought them wealth or fame and likely both--but left them dumb and speechless in the presence of intellectual persons, who, in self-defense, must pass them up for want of _mental fellowship_.