Good morning respected teacher and my dear friends.
Today I am going
to be talking about a very well known author William Sydney Porter,
better known by his pen name O. Henry. He was born on 11th September
1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He moved to Texas in 1882 but
soon after the death of his wife, he moved to New York where he was
remarried. It was in New York only when his most intensive writing
period occurred, where he wrote 381 short stories. Some of his short
composition include stories like ‘The gift of Magi’, ‘The last leaf’ and ‘The
Ransom of Red chief’ but today i am going to be talking about one of his
lesser know short story named ‘After Twenty Years’. This story focusses
on the reunion of 2 old friends, Jimmy and Bob.
A police officer is on the beat late one night in New York City. He notices
a man (whom we later find out is named "Silky" Bob) standing in a dark
doorway. The officer approaches him, and Bob explains that he is
waiting for his friend, Jimmy Wells. Twenty years ago, the two men had
agreed to meet on this date at a restaurant right where Bob was waiting.
Bob explains that he and Jimmy Wells grew up together like brothers in
the city and that Jimmy was one of the most loyal and solid friends you
could wish for. He further explains that he went out West and made a big
success of himself. In the course of the conversation, Bob lights a cigar,
and his face is visible. After a little more conversation, the officer wishes
Bob well and leaves him.
After around twenty minutes have passed, a man in an overcoat walks
towards him and asks him if he is Bob. Bob becomes very excited and
asks if this man is Jimmy Wells. The new man allows Bob to think he is
Jimmy Wells, and suggests that they go to a restaurant to catch up since
the one that they had agreed to meet at is gone. During the walk, Bob
talks about all he has achieved in the twenty years since they last met.
When they pass by a brightly-lit drug store, Bob suddenly looks closely
at the man in the overcoat and realizes that this isn't Jimmy Wells at all.
The man tells Bob that authorities in Chicago had alerted them that Bob
might be in New York and that he is now under arrest. He gives Bob a
note from Jimmy Wells, who was the police officer. In the note, Wells
explains that he came to meet Bob, but recognized him as a criminal
wanted in Chicago. He also says that he couldn't bring himself to arrest
his old friend so he got someone else to do it.
