Match the Synopsis: The Tales of O Henry (3) Quiz

Answer: 'The Trimmed Lamp'

Nancy and Lou are country girls who have moved to New York to find work. Nancy works in a high-end department store and Lou works in a laundry. Lou earns more than Nancy, but Nancy is a keen observer of the rich and imitates their mannerisms and dress sense.

She hopes to land herself a rich man one day; however, a conversation with a colleague about a man she turned down reveals that she is not as shallow as she seems. Lou becomes more materialistic while Nancy starts to rethink her values. One day she encounters Dan, Lou's boyfriend, who has been looking for Lou, and discovers that Lou has moved out of her house and was last seen in another man's car. Dan accuses her and Nancy of being gold-diggers and Nancy is hurt.

When Lou returns three months later, clad in expensive clothes, she notices something different about Nancy and Nancy reveals that she and Dan are engaged.

A policeman sees Lou crying while Nancy consoles her.

Answer: 'The Pendulum'

John Perkins lives in a flat with his wife Katy. Every night Katy asks him where he is going, and he replies that he is off to McCloskey's to play pool with his friends. One day he returns home to find the house in a mess and a message from Katy saying that she has gone to visit her mother, who is ill. John misses Katy dreadfully and considers changing his ways and spending more time with her.

When Katy returns home later that night, having discovered that her mother is fine after all, John continues as though nothing has happened and goes to McCloskey's as usual.

Answer: 'The Assessor of Success'

Hastings Morley has no money, but makes money through trickery. First he gives a clergyman a fake letter of introduction that nets him $5, which he spends at a casino. He takes a child to a pharmacy, buys some medicine at a discount with the child's money and keeps the change.

He goes to a restaurant and tricks them into giving him a free meal by complaining about the food. He encounters an old man looking for a friend and blags his way into the man's friend's house, coming out with $140 and a cigar.

At the end of the story, Morley sees a beautiful woman who he remembers from high school, and who reminds him of his childhood, and the sight of her makes him feel ashamed of himself.

Answer: 'The Buyer from Cactus City'

John Platt is the junior partner in a clothes business in Texas. Navarro, the senior partner, usually goes to New York to buy clothes, but sends Platt for a change. Zizzbaum, the owner of the clothes store in New York and one of Navarro & Platt's clients, has his son Abey show Platt around town, though Platt is unimpressed. Zizzbaum summons Miss Asher, the shop's mannequin, to model some goods and later invites Platt to go to dinner with her. Platt falls in love with her, but Miss Asher cynically tells him that she has heard it all before, and that Zizzbaum expects her to wine and dine clients or lose her job.

As Platt walks her home, she cries because she thought he was different. When he tries to hug her, she slaps him and he drops a wedding ring, and Miss Asher realises that he is genuine, although she gets his home city confused with Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

Answer: 'The Badge of Policeman O'Roon'

Ellsworth Remsen, an aristocrat of Dutch descent, befriends O'Roon, a fellow soldier in his unit during the Civil War. They are reunited after the war and O'Roon asks Remsen to get him a job as a mounted policeman, which Remsen does. Remsen sees a beautiful woman in a car and falls in love with her. Both he and O'Roon attend a reunion of their unit and O'Roon gets so drunk that he is unable to do his job, so Remsen borrows his badge, horse and uniform and does his job for him.

While Remsen is on duty, he sees a carriage containing the woman and the horses pulling the carriage bolt.

He reins the horses in and the woman thanks him, but he is unable to give himself away as he is posing as O'Roon. Remsen is angry and confronts O'Roon when he gives his uniform and badge back, but O'Roon reveals that he knew what happened because the woman is his sister, Lady Angela, and the old man in the carriage with her was his father, an earl. Angela has invited Remsen to their hotel and O'Roon is quitting the police force.

Answer: 'Brickdust Row'

Alexander Blinker is a rich man whose family own several buildings in New York. He goes to Coney Island and on the way there, he meets a working-class woman called Florence who works in a millinery. They spend the day at Coney Island and Blinker sees the place in a new light. On their journey home, their boat crashes into a steamer and Blinker tells Florence he loves her, but Florence says she has heard it all before. Blinker is shocked to discover that she has met up with several men in various places and asks her why she does not receive them at home, and she tells him that in Brickdust Row, where she lives, the houses are too small to receive company.

The tenants call the place Brickdust Row because the bricks are crumbling. Florence wishes she could invite Blinker in. Blinker sees his lawyer the next day, who tells him about a set of red brick buildings his father owned.

His father had considered changing the lease provisions so that tenants could use parlours as reception rooms. Most of the tenants are working-class women who are forced to meet people outside, and Blinker realises that the lawyer is talking about Brickdust Row.

He laments that it is 'too late'.

Answer: 'The Making of a New Yorker'

Raggles, a hobo, has travelled from city to city and assigns personalities to cities, viewing them as women. The cities include Chicago, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Boston. Raggles arrives in Manhattan on the ferry and is intimidated by how big and impersonal the city seems.

While people in other cities have attacked or shouted abuse at him, people in New York just ignore him. However, he is hit by a car as he crosses the road and several people rush to help him, including people he had stereotyped and written off as uncaring. Raggles is admitted to hospital and gets in a fight with another patient.

When a nurse asks why they were fighting, Raggles says that the other man was running down his town: New York.

Answer: 'Vanity and some Sables'

Kid Brady leaves the Stovepipe Gang, an Irish-American gang based in Hell's Kitchen, when he falls in love with Molly McKeever. He promises to change his ways, even though it means having less money than before, and gets a job as a plumber. Several months later, he gives Molly some sables as a present and reassures her that he acquired them by honest means.

A detective becomes suspicious when one of the Kid's clients reports missing sables, which were worth $1000. The Kid protests his innocence, but on seeing Molly, admits that he stole the sables.

A German policeman, who used to sell furs, is about to comment on the value of the sables when the Kid tries to shut him up and is arrested. The German policeman reveals that Molly's sables are clearly not worth $1000 and the Kid admits that he got the sables cheap, but was too embarrassed to admit it. Molly forgives him and the police let him go, as the client has found her sables in her wardrobe.

Answer: 'The Social Triangle'

Ikey Snigglefritz is a poor tailor's apprentice. After a Saturday shift, he goes to Cafe Maginnis, a favourite haunt of Billy McMahan, the district leader. Ikey shakes McMahan's hand and is so keen to make an impression that he spends his wages on wine, much to the fury of his mother and sisters.

The next scene features McMahan and his wife in the dining room of a posh restaurant, often frequented by high society. Cortlandt van Duyckink, a multi-millionaire, is dining there and McMahan approaches him, shakes his hand and offers his help in introducing reforms in his district. McMahan is so overjoyed to meet van Duyckink that he buys a round and sends him a bottle of wine.

The final scene features van Duyckink driving through the streets of a poor neighbourhood.

He impulsively shakes the hand of a poor young man and tells him he wants to get to know him and the local people, and goes away feeling happy. The young man is Ikey Snigglefritz.

Answer: 'The Last Blend'

Con Lantry is a barman who works in Kenealy's cafe and is in love with Katherine, his boss's daughter, but is too shy to talk to her. Two strange men, Riley and McQuirk, ask Kenealy for permission to take over a back rroom, where they spend all their time mixing various drinks and testing them. Riley tells Con the story: he and McQuirk had decided to set up a bar in Nicaragua. On the way, the ship's captain tells them that there is a duty fee on bottled goods but not barrels, so they decant all their alcohol into barrels. One of the barrels has a vile and potent mix, while the other contains a mix that is liquid gold and proves to be a huge hit with customers. Riley and McQuirk have been trying to recreate it, to no avail. Riley recalls that Apollinaris (German mineral water) was in the second barrel and asks for some bottles from the bar.

When Con starts his shift later, he sees Riley and McQuirk being arrested. Kenealy says that they were trying to make a cocktail, got drunk and had a fight. Con sees a glass with a tiny amount of golden liquid in it and drinks it - and it gives him the courage to ask Katherine to marry him.