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LITTLE PICTURES OF O. HENRY
XB ARTII IR W\. PAGE
PART II-TEx., Divs
\\Vu n, Portia found a nest kind of life
that rich tariti of 1 ip s and(I ai ( enturesl-
which 1 later <;ts tr;unslated into hi, sto-
riI. X lil he iot-troi. osrll(vatiln,
;nd not firom experience. as has often
'lbeen ;i, for he \ais ne vr ai c(Mi ov-
the o tri in lls oif his l\l\ te.rn chI acter'
and \Ve'stern scenes. II, looked on a
th'e more pictIri lltu life about him
l h t ler Ilt ll it shared i t rI thil , throull h
hi ii.h; iii il i lil itth I ,l l his rillid iini-i
h nation he entered into its spirit as com-
pI tely a ut onelit \\Itho had full lii i'
its Vcried p I ;iXtS.
It \as while he was ]ivhin, on the
I all ri icih, to which ht'e had l ' on in
search of helth, that he wrote-and ;It
once dstriNcd-his first stories of \Wst-
crn life . : lnd it was their e, ti o, that he
Iret tilhe noX fl nlio s series iof ilu tira-
tills fora ook thaI t neeir ii as pr int te .
I'h author of that hok, "{nche Joe"
Uicon, N\ ;is ;t prospector in the bonanza
nll iin ( \s in Color-' o. Now he is If
newspaper editor in Florida: and he hs
In cl1 tohl, for the slnlrxi i rs of \ Vf I
'nrers trie'nds of that period, the storp
of ti ori in of these ditwiIngrs. lHis nar-
I;ti illustrites r v the r l a1kah11
uhhtsic l elprson;a ] y, c\(en in in: b(x -
hood(l, ull~b lipo th<@ist ho knew him.
"l e: s Ifr nt to Colorado.
loh AlIahhe\ - not one of the n10 t in-
{ miniu rte fiel S in ' ex;ls, 1h 'h
State 1%';is Im h oe. In 177 he and I
l';erncd of the ohd excitement in the
lack H ills <ti 1);tko :land had started
\"hen \we tried a little flher in the wheat
market. 1lahi returned to Texas,
where he nlmde a fortune in the land
busilneIs, but I stoppedhl in Kansas Cit,
got into the newspaper 1-work and made
that mit hllome. It \as from)ll there I wtent
to f.ead ille in 187 andi spent sev eral
ats inl tilth Rckies prospecting, for otld
andi silv .
"()ne dai 1atdk \ wrote to me, after
I hld been in the Rckies for some timne.
and srid: 'loe, dour carbonates lie at thu
bottom of an ink \well. Come hack and
put down the pick for the pen, and you'll
lutke a fortune. A man who can see
\Vilt }11li Cani set e ill te ' i lllnon tiin s
of life, mI can \rite of them as you
can write of themi' , cani create .a i(l line
of his o n. Come back to Austiln andi
write a book. I will stake ott for six
moll nth r ]Xt iln'er, iand l ll writ of 1 our
life iL the Rockies, as vu can write of
it, anid otll fort'un is made.'
"I hesitated, hut John kept witin to
mc, so iln 188. I went.
"John oned a lovely homne in the
suhurbs of Austin, and so> there I settled
Il the lap of luxur-V to \\rite the book
that tt ns to make me famous.
'Take time, all you want,' said John,
publisble lnh tlie ert heststile, a d when
it is fnished \\-e \will -oo to G lticston and
take boat for New 1 ork and ourselves
see that it is ell ]lunched.'
"I shut myself ip and worked early
aind late over the stor", which I cnlledl
not ani then to read and praise and to
declare that I was the ctinr writer of
t h e a c . _ntr r
draw like blares, l I, he 1ould he
_ ii I I I I
_ ,, .+-"