Litchfield enquirer., 1880-05-13
CAPTAIN MOLLY.

| Inauueus Mlsglll, or the gOOQ snip bar
 nacle, was braving the difficulties of land navi
 gation without a pilot. SteeIag for Tele
 graph Hill, one minute he saw it rising direct
 ly before him i; the next, it had disappeared, al
 if by enchantment. We'll, at any rate, he wa! sure of the lamps of Estrada's AuctienStor
 behind him. He turned-they were utterly gone. ... .-.-.- l Truth is, this human vessel had heavy | liquid cargo aboard. His veins were throb
 bing, hls head buzzing. The soberest of Cap
 tains at sea, he was tine most maudlin of revel
 CTS ashore. Good heavens where was he
 For that matter, who was he? The sudden disappearance of expected landmarks aroused disturbing queries as to his own identity
 People in their right minds, finding themselves
 in unWonted plight, have been upset in some such fashion. The old woman, of childish l memory, awaking from her roadside nap, tc discover, with Saul, that her skirts had beer curtailed, cries out in bewilderment | "Laws a-nercy on me, this can't be 1 7" | There are not wanting happy strokes of hu
 man nature in condemned nursery rhymes. l The Captains wandering steps for the ensu l Ing two minutes stamped somewhat intricate
 braiding pattern in the mud. His indecison | which way to turn, and his inability to do | augnt but turn, were piteeus in the extreme.
 At last he stuck fast in 8 deeper mire than | ordinary, and hls glance sweeping helplessly about, he saw two red, bulbous eyeballs star I ing at him as if they never binked The castaway laughed aloud. Nothing on earth
 was the matter with him. Those were Estra- La's lamps, and he was Misgill, of the Barn. | acle. The mysterious dsappearances were due to natural phenomenon-fog. Had he not been so heated by internal fires he would | nave felt it's piercing chill.
 Git out O this 'ere mud-hole, turn your back on them lamps, an go ahead. You're all | right, old chap !'
 The proprieties of language forbid exact transcription of the Captains brief solloquy Scarce substantive in it but was doomed to ] perdition before it left hls lips. Obeying his | own mandate, he was presently rewarded by l finding himself going up hill.
 In reality, the stratum of vapor was not
 very thick. But little fog may do vast deal of mischief with poor dwellers upon earth, shutting out sum- moon, and stars, how splendidly soever they roll and shine. In spiritual things mere whiff of smoke-the | ldlest Of idle opnions-is quite enough for time at least, to annhilate prospective eternity. ..-- Now and again, Misgill looked around to make sure that the beacons gleamed in their l places AS he went higher, they sank lower and loWer-seeming to roll up toward him some very sanctimonious glances and, as he | uttered subdued curse upon the slippery hill side, all at once the lights went out, as if con- cealed by vigorously dropped eyelids. A moment later pair of hot lips became elo- quent ill the language of execraton. In par ticular did they cover with infamy, too dire to hint at, the nautical friend who had advised l Misgil 70 climb the hill and take lodgings with mysterious individual whose sole at fractions were reflected from the wife and daughter he had fetched from the Estates {" The California of thirty one years ago was not rich in wives and daughters.
 Misgill had been sure, when Porteous had suggested it, that he had far rather enter the magic circle of home, however humble, than to put up with the gregarious discomforts of lodging g-house. So, armed with explicit direc- tions how to find Ballen's dwelling, and fur ther instructions to mention Porteouss name, Misgill had bravely weighed anchor from the old City Hotel saloon, and had set sail upon what he anticipated would prove a short and successful run. But the fog had pitilessly snuffed out the few scattered lights The night grew blacker and grimmer. A chill wind, laden with moisture, rushed across the hillside and swept through and through him. He shuddered to his very marrow, and con- cluded to retrace his steps. Hardly had he turned to put his resolve into execution, when his feet slipped from under him, and he went down, down, down, until something started belligerently out of the misty darkness right Tn his way. It was the side-wall of house, and Misgill beat on it furiously. At length candle flickered family through small win dow over his head.
 "Whos down there, and what do you- want p said voice.
 'lt's Misgll, of the Barnacle. If you're Jim Ballen, Porteous sent me- Come, now, don't put me clea4 through the blasted cate chism. Let me imp
 Next door!" were the uncompromising &C., cents of the reply, and the light vanished with unrelenting celerity.
 Next door! He might as we'll have said next planet. Msgill knocked again, more furiously, but was rewarded by no further par ley. Finally, he made another plunge into the surrounding vacancy, and, after groping about in rage, succeeded in finding not an- other shanty, as he supposed, but the very same, which stolidly witnstood another as- sault. The humiliatlng fact is, that this pro- cess was repeated several times before Misgil. astonished that the hillside was SO we'll built up, devoted all it's residents to fiery torments, and gave up in despair.
 The following day, he avoided Porteous as he would the plague but that jolly parsonage found him at last. A watery twinkle in his bloodshot eyes led Misgill to believe that he anticipated a confession
 ''Hallo, Cap! Wher' ye ben all day How'd ye sleep las night, chi"
 '-'Fine." said Misgill, laconically.
 'Foun' Ballen's, eh ?'
 "Without any trouble"
 ''Humph!" Didn't expect you would. A man as full as you was. Thad couldn't be ex- pected to fin anythin'. We'll, I s'pose the young un is jus what I said eh p There was always an alcoholic uncertainty about Por- teous's consonants ''She's splendid gal, she is"
 This reference to the young un" reawak- ened Misgills curiosity to see her. He had rashly vowed never again to set foot on Tele- graph Hill; but, having to account to no one, save himself, for a broken. resolution, he set out before dark to find Ballen's.
 Looking along Kearney street westward, to- day, the hill is so!closely built that it resemb- les huge stack of various shaped boxes but Misgll, in climbing, was led over upon slopes, green and soaked by heavy rains. Where he had been wandering the night betere, he could not possible make out. He saw nothing of the clustered houses among which he had imagin- ed himself. Here rude tent, there ruder shanty, was all. He began to- think that he must have been very drunk, indeed.
 Ballen's was not easy to miss by daylight