Those Times and These

In a bustling river town where the heat of summer hangs heavy over the waterfront, a young narrator and his friend Sergeant Jimmy Bagby find refuge on the shaded porch of an old boat‑store. From this quiet perch they watch the arrival of the steamboat Emily Foster, its whistle cutting through the languid air as passengers—timbermen, a traveling salesman, a family with a dog—disembark and mingle on the dock. The scene is alive with the clatter of drays, the chatter of townsfolk, and the dignified presence of Judge Priest, a local magistrate whose unmistakable umbrella and loyal house‑boy, Jeff Poindexter, mark his arrival.

Through the narrator’s eyes, the everyday rhythms of the town reveal hints of deeper stories: the judge’s hidden past hinted at by his war‑time comrades, and the Sergeant’s recent trip to a neighboring port to cover for an ailing colleague. As the summer heat swirls and the river’s current carries new faces ashore, the stage is set for a tale of community, memory, and the lingering echoes of a bygone era.