THE MAN WHO IS UNBEATABLE

All manner of men possess this ‘‘ instantaneous
 courage.” No one knows until a crisis
comes whether he has it or not.

Several years ago, at the King’s invitation,
324 V.C.s went to Buckingham Palace and
had tea. It was the King’s own idea and at his
own expense. It was the most notable garden
party ever held in England.

Every man of the 324 had faced death for the
sake of his country. There were privates and
generals, Oxford men and costers—there is
no class distinction in courage.

But here is the most interesting fact—they
were mostly ordinary-looking quiet men with
kindly gentle faces. Many looked frail and
delicate. ‘They were not brassy-faced swaggerers
 and bullies. They were not swankers.
They were modest gentlemen. The one thing
that they all had in common was ‘‘ instantaneous
 courage.” They were unbeatable.

Women have this quality as well as men. A
mother will dash past the fireman to rescue
her child from a burning house. In both war
and peace, it has been proved that courage is
not at all a masculine virtue.

Amy Johnson was unbeatable when she
picked up a second-hand aeroplane and flew
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