“There was a let-down in the community’s enthusiasm. The great task had been accomplished. They awaited the City of New York which was to come to take them home. Preparations were made for the homeward journey. It was with joyous cries that the steamer City of New York was greeted, and with pleasure that the men left Little America for New Zealand. By April they had left hospitable New Zealand behind, too, and had started for the United States. “Once more his countrymen turned out to honor Byrd. Dick Byrd was now Rear-Admiral Byrd, but the same Dick Byrd as he had always been before. There were banquets, and medals, and many honors heaped upon him. All over the world movies which had been taken of the expedition were shown to entranced millions. Everybody shared in the work, the good times, the adventures of that group of men. “And here was little Richard Evelyn Byrd, who had been the undersized, delicate boy, with a will of iron, and a spirit for adventure, the leader of it all, the prime force behind the whole expedition. He accomplished all that he sat out to accomplish, and more. The scientific data that he collected proved valuable; and interest in aviation was beyond a doubt stimulated. And that’s that. How’s that for a little fellow with a bum ankle? Pretty good, eh?” Nobody answered the Captain at first. There seemed no answer. Each of them was busy with his own thoughts. Or her own thoughts, because the feminine minds in that gathering were working very fast. “Well,” said Mrs. Martin at last, “I am usually the last person to point a moral, but I do think that there’s a moral in that story.” She saw her opportunity at last. “I think that Dick Byrd’s parents were responsible for the boy’s success. If they had squelched his adventurous spirit at the beginning, he would probably never have got any place.” Mrs. Gregg smiled to herself in the darkness. “Do you believe in young boys going off by themselves, Mrs. Martin?” “It teaches them self-reliance,” said Mrs. Martin firmly. “Do you think that they ought to fly planes by themselves?” “And why not? After all, there isn’t very much to flying a plane, if you keep your wits about you. And I’m sure that both of our boys have their wits about them. I think that the earlier you learn a thing, the better it is for you. It makes everything else easier, too.” There was a silence for a while. Then Mrs. Gregg said, with a laugh in her voice, “I think that I’m being worked upon. First by the Captain with his story, and then by you. I’m afraid I have no defense.” She turned to Hal, who had not spoken at all, but who had been thinking a great deal during the story of Byrd, and the obstacles that he had overcome. “Well, Hal,” she said, “what do you think? Shall we yield to these people? Shall the Greggs yield to the Martins?” Hal had not seen his mother so light-hearted and gay for a long time. The pleasant evening and the story had had a decided effect upon her.