Match the Synopsis: The Tales of O Henry (10) Quiz

Answer: 'The Hypotheses of Failure'

Phineas Gooch, a notable family lawyer, receives three clients in turn. His first client tells the story of a man, Thomas Billings, whose wife abandons him for a Mr Henry Jessup. He talks about how Mr and Mrs Billings are incompatible, and that Mrs Billings is her husband's intellectual superior, and tells Gooch that he wants Mrs Billings to have her divorce; he is even willing to pay for it. Gooch then sees a woman who talks at great length about how her husband is a 'brute' and how intelligent she is compared to him, and reveals that she is Mrs Billings. Gooch's clerk then introduces a second man, who tells the story of an unhappy woman who abandoned her kind and loving husband for a man who is not right for her.

He begs Gooch to ask Mrs Billings to return to her husband. Gooch sends the man out and calls his clients in one by one.

The first man says that his fee is too high and that he will seek out another lawyer. Gooch then calls the second man in and tells him that Mrs Billings is in the office, but the man is horrified and tries to escape, thinking that he had thrown her off.

When Gooch calls him 'Mr Billings', the man throws his bag at him in a rage and climbs out of the window. The contents of the bag reveal that the second man is Jessup; Mr Billings had been happy to grant his wife a divorce, but Jessup had wanted nothing to do with her. Gooch tells his clerk to inform Mrs Billings that there is 'nothing doing'.

Answer: 'Calloway's Code'

HB Calloway is a war correspondent for the 'New York Enterprise', who is in Japan covering the Russo-Japanese War. He receives some key information, but is unsure how to get it past the censor, so he thinks of a code. When the newspaper staff receive it, they note that it is a random collection of words and try all sorts of decryption methods, such as transposing letters, but none of them are any wiser. Vesey, a young reporter, reads the message and eventually figures out what Calloway is driving at; each word is part of a two-word phrase, which Vesey calls 'newspaper English'. For instance, 'foregone' is 'foregone conclusion', 'preconcerted' is 'preconcerted arrangement', and so on. Vesey explains that he has been working on the paper long enough to know which words will follow certain other words, which he calls 'cue words'.

He then makes an article out of it, which the war editor expands on. Calloway later confirms that Vesey was right, and the newspaper's boss gives Vesey a raise.

Answer: 'Girl'

Billy Hartley, a broker, gets an address from a private detective. He follows it to a boarding house, the Vallambrosa, where he finds a young woman called Vivienne Arlington. He asks her why she never answered his letter, and she replies that she was afraid of being tied down by a quiet suburban life.

She admits that there is another man, Rafford Townsend, but she has not promised him anything. Townsend arrives at the house and Hartley warns him to go away. He asks Vivienne to come with him and she hesitates, as she is worried about Héloise being there, but Hartley promises to get rid of her. Vivienne promises to come with him the following day in return. Hartley goes home and is greeted by his wife; it is then that we learn that Vivienne is the family's new cook, who had been recommended to them by friends. Mrs Hartley also tells her husband to sack Héloise, the current cook, as she is drunk again.

Answer: 'A Technical Error'

The narrator recalls a feud between his friend Sam Durkee's family and the Tatum family. Ella Baynes, Sam's fiancée, runs away with a man claiming to be called Beverly Travers; a cowboy friend reveals that the man is actually Ben Tatum, the son of a man killed by Sam's uncle the previous year, and tells Sam where Ben and Ella might have gone. Sam and the narrator pursue the couple on horseback and track them down to a hotel, where they notice that Ella is wearing a hat with a veil and Ben has had his hair cut very short. Sam wants to shoot Ben, but is hesitant because Ben is with a woman. Ella and Ben leave the hotel and Sam and the narrator follow them; eventually, they encounter each other again at another hotel. Sam realises that there is no unwritten rule about shooting a woman in the company of a man, and shoots Ella dead - or so he thinks.

She has her hair cut short and is dressed as a man, while Ben - the actual victim - is in drag.

Answer: 'A Blackjack Bargainer'

Yancey Goree is an alcoholic lawyer whose family have been involved in a feud with the Coltrane family for many years; however, only one of the Coltranes, Colonel Abner Coltrane, is left. Goree's law business has gone bust and he has blown most of his money on drinking and gambling, and has nothing left to sell.

He has sold the old family homestead to a mountain man, Pike Garvey, and his wife. Garvey and his wife become rich after mica is discovered on their land, and Garvey offers to buy Goree's feud for $200, as his wife has become interested in feuds and neither of them have been involved in one.

He also asks if he can buy the Goree burial ground and have the names on the gravestones changed, but Goree is angry and sends him away. Goree goes on a drinking binge and wakes up in his office to find Coltrane, who offers to take care of him. Coltrane offers him a job helping transport timber, and Goree accepts. Goree and Coltrane ride into town together, and Goree dimly recalls spending $200. Coltrane spots Garvey lurking in the mountains. Goree realises what Garvey is up to and asks Coltrane if he can borrow his hat and coat. Surely enough, Goree saves Coltrane's life when Garvey, mistaking him for Coltrane, shoots him.

Answer: 'Madame Bo-Peep, of the Ranches'

Octavia Beaupree discovers that her late husband has left her almost nothing, save for a sheep ranch in Texas. Despite her aunt's worries, Octavia decides to start a new life on the sheep ranch, but breaks down in tears at an old memory. She meets an old friend from New York, Teddy Westlake, at the ranch, who turns out to be the ranch's manager, and learned the ropes from a friend of the late Colonel Beaupree.

It is hinted that Teddy is an old flame and Octavia worries he has forgotten her. She settles in at the ranch and gains the nickname of 'Madame Bo-Peep' from Teddy and the Mexican ranch workers. One night, they reminisce about a ball where Octavia lost a glove.

While chasing a centipede, Octavia ends up in Teddy's room and finds her glove under his pillow, and keeps it.

She receives a solicitor's letter revealing that Teddy had bought the ranch after Colonel Beaupree disposed of it, before his death. She asks Teddy to tell her the truth about why he went west and Teddy explains that his doctor ordered him to because of his lungs, and that he had been saving the money for the ranch for years.

He and Octavia rekindle their love.

Answer: 'A Ruler of Men'

The narrator meets Kansas Bill Bowers, an old friend and a conman, in New York. The narrator asks him where he has been lately, and Kansas Bill tells him that he has been in South America with Barney O'Connor, an Irishman he met in a boarding house. O'Connor has a sword, which used to belong to his father, and a map of South America; he has chosen a small unnamed country that he wishes to liberate, and wants Kansas Bill's help.

When the two men move into the country, O'Connor begins writing letters and turning local citizens against the government by giving them money.

He believes the locals are desperate for a revolution, but Kansas Bill is not so sure. O'Connor falls in love with Doña Isabela, a local woman, and hatches plans for a revolution.

However, on the day of the revolution, the people of the town are asleep. A cannon is fired as planned and General Tumbalo, a local army officer, duels O'Connor while still in his pyjamas. O'Connor is arrested and imprisoned. Sancho, the interpreter, reckons that the revolution has not gone ahead because it is too hot. Kansas Bill goes to see Doña Isabela and the two get engaged, and she cooks some food for O'Connor, who she describes as a 'big ugly man'.

The local justice of the peace says that O'Connor is to be released; they only arrested him to make a show of him, and the whole town treated the revolution as one big joke. Kansas Bill lies to O'Connor that Doña Isabela has arranged their escape and they return to New York on a boat. In the present day, the narrator asks Kansas Bill if O'Connor ever went back, and Kansas Bill takes him to Grand Central Station, where O'Connor is shoving people on a train. Both men note that he has the demeanour of a ruler of men.

Answer: 'The Atavism of John Tom Little Bear'

Jeff Peters and the narrator argue about how education has benefited Native Americans, and Peters recalls a time when he went into business with John Tom Little Bear, a Native American man who spoke fluent English. John Tom pretends to be a medicine man, and Peters his business partner, while a third man, Conyngham Binkly, entertains the crowds as they sell dodgy products.

While the group are camping, a little boy shoots at them with a miniature rifle and asks John Tom if he is a real Indian. Peters manages to get the boy's real name, Conyers, and address out of him, and cables home to the boy's mother that he is safe. Mrs Conyers arrives to collect her son, and the two of them go for dinner with John Tom and Peters. Peters worries that John Tom is in love with Mrs Conyers. Later that night, Mrs Conyers comes to the camp and tells them that her husband has kidnapped their son and whipped her face. John Tom has been drinking and gone missing, to Peters' annoyance, but later returns to the camp with the boy and speaks in a stereotypical manner. Peters notices Mr Conyers' scalp hanging from John Tom's belt and disposes of it when the Conyers have gone. John Tom wakes up the next morning with a hangover and starts talking normally again.

Answer: 'The Marionettes'

Dr Charles James is not only a doctor, but a talented burglar and safecracker. While he is walking down the road with the proceeds of a crime, Cindy, a black servant, approaches him and asks if he is a doctor, as her master, Rob Chandler, is seriously ill.

She takes Dr James into the house, where he cases the room and notices that Amy, Chandler's wife, has a fresh bruise on her face. Amy tells Dr James that her husband has had a heart attack. As Dr James listens to Chandler's heart, Amy faints and Cindy and the doctor carry her to her room. Cindy tells Dr James that Chandler had hit Amy. Dr James tells her to look after Amy, and goes to see Chandler, who attempts to tell him about $20,000, which is hidden in the room somewhere.

As Cindy fetches medicine, Dr James injects nitroglycerine into Chandler's body and breaks into the safe, hoping to find the money there. Chandler is amazed that the doctor is also a burglar, but tells him that he blew all the money on gambling.

After he dies, Cindy returns and explains to Dr James that Amy has no money, as Chandler had spent it all. Dr James puts his money in the safe and tells Amy that Chandler had left it for her, and gives her the combination. Amy believes him and mourns her husband's death as the doctor leaves.

Answer: 'The Dream'

Murray is a prisoner on Death Row, sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, and is going to die in the electric chair that night. The guards come to collect him and the story ends as he enters the execution room due to O Henry's death while he was writing it. An editor's note intervenes to explain what Henry had planned for the story, which he had wanted to be different form his usual style, with no slang and a straightforward plot.

As Murray sits in the chair, he dreams about a country cottage and a woman and child; the cottage is his home and they are his family.

His girlfriend is alive, and now his wife, and he was innocent after all. As he kisses his wife and child, the current is turned on and he dies. It turns out that he has dreamed the wrong dream.