Short Story. The Obliteration of Blinky.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 170, 25 February 1902, Page 1

Short Story. The Obliteration of Blinky.

-By Stanley A. Gildings,

Blinky came on I; of tbo wood* which shaded the buck door of the little Pennsylvania oil town, and the four foot plank sidewalk seemed narrow to his feet. His was a most disreputable -figure, dishevelled, tattered, mud besmeared-: but just now a certain jaunty carriage lent to bis general appearance a picturesque abandon Blinky usually went without. A badly battered plug hat, min’fi'S crown and most of the brim, tipped rakishly over one eye ; his clothes* too small for the rotund figure* tugged hopefully at their few remaining buttons, while here and there a turn flag wig-wagged signals of distress. The square tin can under ond arm suggested some unwonted enterprise of moment. Exertion —for the can seemed heavy—and, Blinky joined forces only when the issue promised very much indeed. A pedestrian coming leisurely up the walk watchea the figure stumbling towards him with the amused tolerance of a-man who sometimes walks in devious paths himself: but as his eye lit upon the burden it bore he shied like a raw colt into the six inch mud of the street. ‘ You unmitigated idiot, pul down that can, and do it easy, d’ye hear ? You darn fool, put down -that can-I’ Then from a safe distance actCKS the way this public spirited citizen shouted warnings to the town at large. To ‘this 'demonstration-, howeVe? Blinky gave no heed. The goal of his ambittons loomed, ahead, and quickened his uncertain feet. He saw people turn and flee from him as from a pestilence; heard shouts; saw frantic gestures. A knot of wildly excited men formed on the walk ahead, retreating as he advanced, cursing him for as many kinds of a drunken fool as their several aud highly practised tongue# could enumerate, Blinky paused at the saloon dofl? and waved his dramatic hand* This most unusual demonstration in his honour called for at least that recognition. Then he passed iu&ide. The bartender gave one glams§ as the newcomer bumped his bur* den down on the bar, and then* with a yell that fairly rattled fchO glasses, took a flyim? leap for the window; the half dozen lounger# also left with a unanimity of purpose that caused a temporary block* ado of the back door. A two-gallon can of nitro-glyttef* ine in the hands of a mail • irresponsibly drunk does not inspire confidence nor a desire for close# communication in a disinterested person. Blinky Watched the exodus Ift grieved surprise. Never before had his advent been followed by such remarkable results. In fact, be himself generally proved the vanishing quantity, tU his extreme discomfort; but as thd possibilities of the situation gradu« ally percolated through his brain he arose to hia opportunity with the promptitude of a Napoleon. For the tit&t time in all his Varied life he found himself in undisputed possession of liquors unlimited. Liquors of varying qualities and degrees of potency-. Shades of Bacchus ! Working as swiftly as he might, lest interruption come all too soon, he arranged along the bar such full bottles as bo comd find in a meandering line suggestive of his late progress down the street. Each one he sampled, with the air of a connoisseur. Now and again ha was forced to paused in ecstatic contemplation, atd the one wave of discontent came only fn in the fact that he could not hope to take them all away-. Therefore be began a careful and most deliberate selection, which soon resolved itself into the sola question as to which bottles Were the largest Quality and quantity were synonymous terms in Blinky’# professional vocabulary. He seemed for a long time t§ study ibe advisability of leaving hi# friendly can behind, but even hi# drink befuddled brain saw swift despoliation ahead in case he ven* tured forth Without that Safeguard, Also it might prove Useful later on. While Blinky had been so coU» genial ly occupied Within, theguidkljf gathered populace outsiao had resolved itself into a committee ifl Waiting, alertly expectant, dominate! by a strong curiosity as to the Outcome. ( It is true that an effort, aefe improbably successful, might have been mode to separate the reVeile# from his engine of destruction j but Blinbys personality Was hardly calculated to inspire the quality @1 courage necessary. t Further, if undisturbed he Was far more apt to work out successfully his own ealvft* BOH. Jim Andersen's remark, * h*i

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bim alone, and he’ll be paralyzed, i drunk in fifteen minutes,’ voiced the sentiments of the crowd. 1 This calculation, however, was * upset when Blinky finally emerged i from the saloon. Evidently he had < improved to the full this one great 1 opportunity of his Ifie. From every pocket a bottle’s neck 1 projected ; one was tightly, fondly clasped in either band ; while here and there about his person others dangled from various stout cords. His appearance was greeted by a shout of laughter which even the übiquitous can of glycerine could not allay. Indeed, his inoffensive and entirely self-satisfied air was so re-assuring that one or two of the bolder spirits advanced cautiously and casually, addressing their intended victim in the familiar terms of old comradeship. But Blinky was not to be trapped so easily. Fear for his spoil lent cunning to his brain, and a series of desperate lurches that it seemed only a miracle saved from ending in a gensrol catastrophe put the enemy to swift and ignominious flight. A voice wailed one from the retreating crowd : ‘Oi say, Blinky, if it’s going’ to blow up ye is, please will ye lave behind jist wan bottle fur yer ould frind Pat Cassidy ? Its dyin’ of ■ the drout’ he is !’ Blinky stopped and gravely deposited a bottle upon the sidewalk. man shot up the oppiaite side of the street and swooped down upon it from the rear. Everybody laughed. And now Blinky’s laboured progress brooked no interruption. Half laughing, man fall away before bim shamelessly, and he certainly was monarch of all he surveyed within a radius of a hundred yards. That two gallon can held an imprisoned demon which a very little thing might loose, and whose arm was long and whose touch was devastating. Dr.ving the flock before him like a flock of sheep, Blinky kept unsteadily on his way. Down the long street of the towm he passed, stumbling now and again, while his watchers gasped, but gaining theopen country without mishap. Here as though his mission called him, he left the travelled way and struck into a stump strewn, partially cleared expanse, where vine and hidden boulder lurked to trap him, where pitfalls were thickly strewn, and no path led. Once, indeed, he fell, but the luck of a drunken man was at his elbow, and the glycerine did not explode. iSo for half a mile or more ho followed the beckoning hand of destiny till at last his further progiess was' barred by a bank that pitched down steeply to where a railroad ran, thirty feet below. This offered a too serious obstacle to his adventurous feet, and besides he was a-weary, A convenient rock on the brink was most inviting, and he sat down to rest. A fringe of bis followers—before t this they had all gained a position to the rear—formed an arc at a respectful distance. Some half dozen of the more courageous, urged by bis growing indifference to the 7 worlds affairs, began a gradual advance. = Blinky watched them with a . gloomy eye till they covered fifty L yards, then he dragged the can of glycerine across his knees and, with a bottle in either hand beat a stirring retreat. They did not come back. A freight train came roaring through the catting gathering headway for a stiff grade beyond. From the bank above Blinkey watebed the lurking tank cars, and solemnly nodded to a brakeman as he tipped 5 a bottle to his lips. The brakeman enviously waved acknowledgements, and strolled forward. Morley, at the throttle, was not altogether satisfied with things in general. The load was too heavy for his engine up that steep ascent and certain caustic remarks at his exposulatious had not helped his temper any. Although grumbling and swearing as only an overworked railroader can, yet like a good engineer, he was preparing to take the last revolution from his machine. Therefore they hit tha long grade at a terrific clip, the safety--5 valve popping and Johnny Barber’s shovel bard at work. Close behind was Blake pulling the express, and whatever happened they must keep ' clear the right of way. It was a long, long pull and a hard one, and Morley’s face relaxed a little when they neared the crest. He glanced back as his engine cleared the grade to see if the train was coming on all right, and just at that instant it broke in two three cars behind ! And Blake with a train load of passengers probably not ten minutes in his wake I Blake was certainly not more than that time distant, characteristically engaged in picking up a lost half hour of schedule. He knew , that Morloy was close ahead with a 1 heavy train of tanks, racing for the , Black Rock siding; but Morley’s reputation as a time-maker was 1 better than his temper, and he didn’t worry any. Therefore, as he rounded into the short stretch at the foot of the grade, the situation that revealed itself was appallingly unexpected ' and altogether desperate. , In the meantime Blinky, man- ' handler of nitro-glycerine, sat on his rook and drank copiously of \ stolen liquor. Hard as his head , was, he at last had reached that I stage which promised final surrender ! to the inevitable when the runaway ’ freight attracted his attention.

He watched it bearing’ dowJi him unoomprehendingly, || First the long line of crazyil rushing, like a cyclone run all headlong down the grade, || behind a dozen rods or mojf I engine screamed, hurling heillf 1 cars impotently after. f| i An outward curve gave splendid view. Suddenly S the pursuing demon slacken rf and a short, sharp whistle |3| left turned his eyes in that tion. kd There was the express Ai >.«■ around the lower curve toll that rushing avalanche of dej|. But to BJinky's maudlinill all this held no meaning. His||| -r-pA was dead, his physical heingli ated only by the one acquire more liquor. lr , Therefore, with a last effoll jf raised a bottle to his lips, lull JUT far backward in the act, tAJvr**' headlong down the nearly dicular descent. The can ofll glycerine went with him. U The crash that followed iJ horror of infernal sound. cloud of earth, stones, rails','l splintered ties, the whole pernji ( by a red mist horribly suggeMi shot upward to an enormous hfrfl , n while a great hole was openM in the path of the runaway where an instant later it and piled itself into a ™,lLgaff wreckage. Blake stoped his train in Jir .j Blinky had fulfilled his missioll jfi