Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1904-12-16
The Return of the ProdiqaI
~ESo

~ tall, thin man, deeply bronzed,
HA tiny crowsfeet showing athwart
the tan at the corners OF his
eyes, his forehead white when he
pushed back his soft felt hat, leaned
over the rail Of a small pleasure"
steamer that made short trips between
Bar Harbor and Jonesport twice and
thrice week.
The man seemed somehow out OF
place among the storekeepers and
small tradesmen, who had brought ba-
bies, bottles, and biscuits, and were
having an outing.
The little steamer kept close In shore
after leaving the harbor, and the man
booked up at the giant red cliffs, their
summit crowned with crisp salt grass
as II every landmark was familiar.
His hand was brown and sinewy,
like himself, and the cigar he held he
dropped overheard as the tiny craft
came In sight of Sidbridge.
There is no pier there; the leviathan
craft only stops there when ordered
To get ashore the boat gently noses
the single and passengers ignomin-
iously walk the plank"
The man, looking shorewards, took
out a fresh cigar. and, as 1t would
not light, he held 1t In his hand, look
ing still shorewards, and his hand
essentially the hand Of worker
tlembled.
A rent in the cliff cuts sidbridge In
half.
Looking up from the sea one sees
houses on either side of the assure; a
square lowered stone church crowns
all. As has been said, there 10 no pier
or landing stage, and barelegged little
fellows were rolling about on lumber
colored meta spread out 30 dry.
Good God"-and there seemed no
SAVIOR OF irreverence as the man spoke
the words, and his keen gray eyes
were moist-''not speck OF change.
not a speck! No railway apparently.
no pier, no anything, after twenty
years! And I've come 1900 miles to
see you and l find you just as left
your
'Hh-ehi It's my body that has
grown old, not my heart"
"Do you get on here, STRIP
Yes. purser, and look out for me on
your way back. What quaint old
place this seems to ber'
The purser laughed.
They say Of Sidbridge that no one
ever dies there and no change has TAX
en- place for nifty years or more'
"Ah, it's different on my side! I'm
from the other side OF the world"
Herbert seaton walked the plank,
the only passenger 10 alight, leaving
buns and babies behind him, and, car
rying bis grip. he went up the main
street, looking keenly from hand to
hand
The names ON the few stores were
familiar to him. He nodded and gave
Good dayT to an old lady summing
herself upon the doorstep. who return
ed his greeting with no sign Of recog-
milton.
The old order changeth, giving place
to the new,
Anu wv tuAnAS nupcil IN many
ways"
he quoted and walked ON. grip in hand,
his eyes giancing hither and thither.
Behind the coast guards cottage is
small square. You enter 1t from the
main street by narrow passage that
looks like cul de sac, but 1t opens
out into Q tiny quadrangle, where the
sound Of the sea scarcely penetrates.
The houses-all OF one pattern-are
hme washed and tiled, with green
shutters, and the rust from the hinges
has stained them almost red in patch
e..
And the man made his way towards
one with feet that Jagged. The green
shutters, the hall mark Of respectable
ity, hung awry, and their hinges were
rusted, He turned to the next house
and knocked at the door.
At the house of his quest the front
door swung to and fro.
"Can you tell me where Mrs. Hay
garth has moved tor
II have never heard the name, sir"
did not Mrs. Haygarth-her name
was Radford before her marriage
come here to live on her wedding
Cay?''
''Radford Is common name here,
sir. There are three Margaret Rad
fords in the parish now"
"But the Margaret mean married