The Project Gutenberg EBook of The First One, by Herbert D. Kastle

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Title: The First One

Author: Herbert D. Kastle

Release Date: January 7, 2008 [EBook #24192]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE FIRST ONE

By HERBERT D. KASTLE

Illustrated by von Dongen

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Analog July 1961.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright
on this publication was renewed.]

_The first man to return from beyond the Great Frontier may be
welcomed ... but will it be as a curiosity, rather than as a
hero...?_

There was the usual welcoming crowd for a celebrity, and the usual
speeches by the usual politicians who met him at the airport which had
once been twenty miles outside of Croton, but which the growing city had
since engulfed and placed well within its boundaries. But everything
wasn't usual. The crowd was quiet, and the mayor didn't seem quite as
at-ease as he'd been on his last big welcoming--for Corporal Berringer,
one of the crew of the spaceship _Washington_, first to set Americans
upon Mars. His Honor's handclasp was somewhat moist and cold. His
Honor's eyes held a trace of remoteness.

Still, he was the honored home-comer, the successful returnee, the
hometown boy who had made good in a big way, and they took the triumphal
tour up Main Street to the new square and the grandstand. There he sat
between the mayor and a nervous young coed chosen as homecoming queen,
and looked out at the police and fire department bands, the National
Guard, the boy scouts and girl scouts, the Elks and Masons. Several of
the churches in town had shown indecision as to how to instruct their
parishioners to treat him. But they had all come around. The tremendous
national interest, the fact that he was the First One, had made them
come around. It was obvious by now that they would have to adjust as
they'd adjusted t