And only with the Army examination successfully conquered did he seriously begin to think of uniforms and swords and the glamour of a soldier's life.
On the 11th September 1876 Baden-Powell joined the 13th Hussars in India, and one of his first acts was to take from his baggage an ocarina, and having assembled all the European children he could find in the station, to march at their head through the streets of Lucknow, playing with great feeling, which suffered, however, a little from his all-comprehensive grin, "The Girl I Left Behind Me." In this manner he signalised his arrival, earning the undying love of every English mother in the place, and infusing into the gallant 13th Hussars (_Viret in AEternum!_) fresh vigour and fresh spirit.
The 13th Hussars, Sir Baker Russell's old regiment, boasts a fine record, and the songs in the canteen at night will tell you how the regiment rode on the right of the line at Balaclava, when it was known to fame as the 13th Light Dragoons.

One of these songs begins:-- Six hundred stalwart warriors, of England's pride the best, Did grasp the lance and sabre on Balaclava's crest, And with their trusty leader, Lord Cardigan the brave, Charged up to spike the Russian guns--or find a soldier's grave.
And the refrain, which every man present sings with a face as solemn as my Lord Chancellor sitting on the Woolsack half an hour longer than usual, runs in this fashion:-- Oh, 'tis a famous story; proclaim it far and wide, And let your children's children re-echo it with pride, How Cardigan the fearless his name immortal made, When he crossed the Russian valley with his famous Light Brigade.
This is the great glory of the regiment, the knowledge of which makes the recruit blow his chest out another inch and straightway purchase out of his pay spurs that jingle more musically when he goes abroad than the miserable things served out by an unromantic Government.
Other legends there are in this regiment, and once Baden-Powell and his great friend, Captain MacLaren (known to the officers as "The Boy," to the men as "The Little Prince"), set about compiling its history; but for some reason or another that work has not yet appeared, and since its inception B.-P.

has deserted to the Dragoons--_Vestigia nulla retrorsum!_ Baden-Powell became popular with his brother-officers directly he joined.

It was his freshness, his overflowing good spirits, his hearty and unmistakable enjoyment of life, that first won their regard.

The boy suddenly dropped into their midst was no blase youth, no mere swaggering puppy.