O.Henry

Such volumes as

Cabbages and Kings

(1904) and

The Four Million

(1906) collect short stories, noted for their often surprising endings, of American writer William Sydney Porter, who used the pen name O. Henry.

His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. His era produced their voices and his language.

Mother of three-year-old Porter died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen years of age and worked for five years in drugstore of his uncle and then for two years at a Texas sheep ranch.

In 1884, he went to Austin, where he worked in a real estate office and a church choir and spent four years as a draftsman in the general land office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.

He failed to establish a small humorous weekly and afterward worked in poorly-run bank. When its accounts balanced not, people blamed and fired him.

In Houston, he worked for a few years until, ordered to stand trial for embezzlement, he fled to New Orleans and thence Honduras.

Two years later, he returned on account of illness of his wife. Apprehended, Porter served a few months more than three years in a penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. During his incarceration, he composed ten short stories, including

A Blackjack Bargainer

,

The Enchanted Kiss

, and

The Duplicity of Hargraves

.

In 1899, McClure's published

Whistling Dick's Christmas Story

and

Georgia's Ruling

.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he sent manuscripts to New York editors. In the spring of 1902, Ainslee's Magazine offered him a regular income if he moved to New York.

In less than eight years, he became a bestselling author of collections of short stories. Cabbages and Kings came first in 1904 The Four Million, and

The Trimmed Lamp

and

Heart of the West

followed in 1907, and

The Voice of the City

in 1908,

Roads of Destiny

and

Options

in 1909,

Strictly Business

and

Whirligigs

in 1910 followed.

Posthumously published collections include

The Gentle Grafter

about the swindler, Jeff Peters;

Rolling Stones

,

Waifs and Strays

, and in 1936, unsigned stories, followed.

People rewarded other persons financially more.

A Retrieved Reformation

about the safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine got $250; six years later, $500 for dramatic rights, which gave over $100,000 royalties for playwright Paul Armstrong. Many stories have been made into films.