George Brown

After O'Henry

O'Henry, a famous American humorist, is the author of many short stories. His short stories are very popular all over the world. This is what happened to him one day. He had an acquaintance whose name was Tripp. He was a young man but he looked forty. He never shaved, his face was pale and he often asked the writer for a dollar, and then spent it on whisky. Once Tripp met a young girl in New York. She had never been to the city before. She stopped Tripp and asked him where she could find George Brown. She thought that the first man whom she asked could tell her that. She also told Tripp that she was going to marry a farmer, named Dodd. But before that she wanted to see George Brown and to have a talk with him. That's why she had come to New York. She had no money and didn't know where to look for George Brown. Tripp, who was kind by nature, could not leave the girl alone. He took her to a hotel and left her there. He told everything to O'Henry and suggested that they should go and see the girl whose name was Ada. Ada and George Brown loved each other dearly. The girl did not want to marry the farmer. She wanted to find George. Tripp suggested that the writer pay the bill at the hotel where Ada was staying and buy a railway ticket for Ada to get back home. He said that it would cost the writer three dollars. He asked for another dollar for himself. He wanted whisky. He added that the writer would be able to write a new short story. It would cost him only four dollars. Ada was really beautiful. She told them all the details. She and George were in love when the boy was eight and she was five. When George was nineteen, he left the village and went to New York. He promised to come back for Ada, but she never saw him again. On the day George left they cut a cent into two pieces till they met again. The two men very sorry for Ada and advised her to go home. They saw her to the station and then went home. When they were going to the bus-stop, Tripp took his cheap watch out of his pocket and the writer saw half of the cent cut in two. George Brown and Tripp were one and the same man. The writer took out a dollar and put into Tripp's hand.