s space.

"I have here"--the speaker smiled slightly as he extended his hand where
a jewel flashed fire from a velvet case--"the identical jewel and medal.
And to-night, while the peoples of Earth are gathered throughout the
world to do honor to Mr. Bullard, it has been given to me the proud
privilege of welcoming him home."

* * * * *

He turned and held out a beckoning hand toward Chet. In a daze the
younger man arose and moved beside the one who had called him.

"And now, Chester Bullard, on behalf of the Governing Council of the
Ruling Nations of this Earth, I greet you: Pilot of the Stratosphere no
longer--but Pilot of Endless Space! The world welcomes you; and, through
me, it places in your hands this jewel.

"But you will observe that we older ones may still learn, and we do not
repeat our former mistake. We hand you this medal, emblematic of the
first penetration of space, to do with as you will."

The thin hand was shaking as the speaker turned and swept the audience
with one all-inclusive gesture.

"To you who are before me now; to you out beyond wherever parallels of
longitude and latitude are known--I present the Columbus of the
Stars!--Chester Bullard!"

And suddenly Chet found himself alone in a pandemonium of sound. From
the countless faces that blurred into one unrecognizable sea came a roar
of human voices like waves thundering against storm-worn cliffs; above
the clamor was the sound of shrieking sirens; and through all, when it
seemed that no other sound could be heard, came the full-volume,
nerve-stunning clangor from the radiocone's wide-opened throat as the
trumpets and brass of all the monster bands of Earth broke forth, under
radio control, in one synchronous song--till even that was drowned under
the roaring welcomes in strange tongues as the nations of Earth cut in.

* * * * *

And Chet Bullard, his blouse still torn where a Commander of Air had
ripped off a three-starred emblem of a Master Pilot, shook his blond
head to clear it of the confusion that seemed beating him down. And he
stared and stared, not at the rioting throng before him, but at
something he could in part comprehend--a glowing, flashing jewel that
rested in his hand. And slowly there crept into his eyes a look of
understanding, while a ghost of a smile twitched and tugged at the
corners of his mouth.

The hall, which one instant was a bedlam of roaring v