By O. Henry

Summary

•John A Pescud worked for Cambria Steel Works and was a travelling plate-glass seller for the company.

•He was a different kind of man. Now, the narrator met him the second time on a train bound to Pittsburg.

•The latter was going to Cocktown, on the way to Pittsburg. Having found him reading the best seller novel, ‘The Rose Lady and Trevelyan,’ the narrator and John began to talk about the impossibilities of such novels in the modern world because the novel was about an American rich man marrying a princess from Europe.

• Both the narrator and John agreed upon this.•When the narrator asked John if he had got

married, John told him how he met his wife Jessie in a similar situation as that of the novel’s storyline. • Last year, John was in a train. Among the

passengers, his eyes met a beautiful young woman. John wanted to talk to her.

• When she alighted from the train at a station, John followed her.

• He kept business aside and madly chased for the woman, changing trains whenever she did.

• Finally the train stops at a station in Virginia and the woman gets down there. An old man comes to receive the woman.

• John follows the woman.• Upon reaching the woman’s house, John stood

dazed, shocked! The house she went into looked like a palace, a little old one.

• It was unbelievable. Was he following a princess after all? Who is she? Who was that old man? John decided to know all that about her.

• He lodged at Hotel Bay View House from where he could see the woman’s ‘palace.’ He learnt that she was the daughter of Colonel Allyn, the most known family in Virginia.

41. ‘ Well, that tickled me 1. ‘No Kidding’, says I. ‘I’m not looking for smoke 2, even if I do come from Pittsburg.’

42. ‘ You are quite a distance from home,’ says she.

43. ‘ I’d have gone a thousand miles farther,’ says I.1Tickled me – Made him

laugh.2 Smoke – [here] nothing.

44. ‘ Not if you hadn’t woken up when the

train started in Shelbyville,’ says she;

and then she turned almost as red as

one of the roses on the bushes in the

yard. I remembered I had dropped off to

sleep on a bench in the Shelbyville

station, waiting to see which train she

took, and only just managed to wake up

in time.’

45. ‘ And then I told her why I had come, as

respectful and earnest 1as I could. And I

told her everything about myself, and

what I was making, and how that all I

asked was just to get acquainted 2with

her and to try to get her to like me.’1 Earnest - Showing sincere and intense conviction. Example: An earnest student. 2 Acquainted - Brought into social contact; made familiar Example: People acquainted through mutual friends.

46. ‘ She smiles a little and blushes some,

but her eyes never get mixed up. They

look straight at whatever she’s talking

to.’

47. ‘ I never had anyone talk to me like this

before, Mr. Pescud,’ says she. ‘What did

you say your name is – John?’

48. ‘ John A.,’ says I.

49. ‘ And you came mighty near missing

the train at Powhatan Junction, too,’

says she with a laugh that sounded as

good as a mileage-book to me.’

50. ‘ How did you know? ’ I asked.

51. ‘ Men are very clumsy,’ said she. ‘ I

know you were on every train. I thought

you were going to speak to me, and I’m

glad you didn’t.’

52. ‘ Then we had more talk; and at last a

kind of proud, serious look came to her

face, and she turned and pointed a

finger at the big house.’

53. ‘ The Allyns,’ says she, ‘have lived in

Elmcroft for a hundred years. We are a

proud family. Look at that mansion 1. It

has fifty rooms. See the pillars and

porches 2 and balconies. The ceilings in

the reception-rooms and the ball-room

are twenty-eight feet high. My father is

lineal descendant of belted earls 3.’1Mansion – A large, impressive house. E.g. The King has a big mansion.2Porch – A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. E.g. We sat out on the porch to cool off.3Belted earls – Until the 17th century, an earl was invested by the king with a sword he wore at his waist. Hence, he was called a ‘belted earl’.

54. ‘Of course,' she goes on, 'my father

wouldn't allow a drummer to set his foot

in Elmcroft. If he knew that I was talking

to one over the fence, he would lock me

in my room.’

55. ‘Would you let me come there?' says I.

'Would you talk to me if I was to call?

For,' I goes on, 'if you said I might come

and see you?’

56. 'I must not talk to you,' she says,

'because we have not been introduced.

It is not exactly proper. So I will say

good-bye, Mr.--'

57. 'Say the name,' says I. 'You haven't

forgotten it.'

58. 'Pescud,' says she, a little mad.

59. 'The rest of the name!' I demands, cool

as could be.

60. 'John,' says she.

61. 'John-what?' I says.

62. 'John A.,' says she, with her head high.

'Are you through, now?‘

63. 'I'm coming to see the belted earl

tomorrow,' I says.

64. ‘ He'll feed you to his fox-hounds 1,'

says she, laughing.1Fox – hounds - a dog of a smooth-haired breed with drooping ears, often trained to hunt foxes in packs over long distances.

65. ‘ If he does, it'll improve their running,’

says I. 'I'm something of a hunter

myself.’

66. ‘ I must be going in now,' says she. 'I

oughtn't to have spoken to you at all. I

hope you'll have a pleasant trip back to

Minneapolis - or Pittsburgh, was it?

Good-bye!'

67. 'Good-night,' says I, 'and it wasn't

Minneapolis. What's your name, first,

please?‘

68. ‘She hesitated. Then she pulled a leaf

off a bush, and said:

69. 'My name is Jessie,' says she.

70. 'Good - night, Miss Allyn,' says I.

71. ‘ The next morning at eleven, sharp, I

rang the door-bell of that World's Fair

main building. After about three-

quarters of an hour an old man about

eighty showed up and asked what I

wanted. I gave him my business card,

and said I wanted to see the colonel 1.

He showed me in.’1Colonel - a rank of officer in the army and in the US air force.

Cross Curricular

Links

Cambria Iron Company is a former company in Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1852 and made many important contributions to the iron and steel industry. William Kelly (inventor) implemented many of his iron and

steel technology advances at this location. The Cambria Iron Works was reorganized in 1898 and renamed the Cambria Steel Company. In 1916, the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company bought the Cambria Steel Company, and sold it to

the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1923.

Cambria Steel Works

Plate - Glass

Flat glass, sheet glass or plate glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows,

glass doors, transparent walls, and windshields. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is sometimes bent after production of the plane sheet. Flat glass stands in contrast to container glass (used

for bottles, jars, cups) and glass fiber (used for optical communication).

Pittsburgh

Shelbyville

Minneapolis

Fox Hounds

A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, great energy, and, like all scent

hounds, a keen sense of smell. In fox hunting, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed by the hunters on

horseback, sometimes for several miles at a stretch. Foxhounds also sometimes guard sheep and houses.

Jumbled Words:1. L B E S E Y L H I V L2. T C A A Q E N I U D3. P N I O E A L N I M S4. T L E E D B S E L A R5. O X F D U S H N O6. A W A P O T N H C I T N O

U J N7. I A L E N L A E S T N C N D

E D8. N’ O H T U T G9. I N O C S B L A E 10.H E C R O S P

Jumbled Words’ Answers:1. Shelbyville2. Acquainted3. Minneapolis4. Belted Earls5. Fox Hound6. Powhatan

Junction7. Lineal

Descendant8. Oughtn’t9. Balconies 10.Porches

Word Search

1. Acquainte

d

2. Balconies

3. Ceiling

4. Descenda

nt

5. Elmcroft

6. Jessie

7. Mansion

8. Minneapol

is

9. Porches

10.Shelbyvill

e