Match the Synopsis: The Tales of O Henry (6) Quiz

Answer: 'Compliments of the Season'

Fuzzy is an alcoholic tramp who finds a doll in the street, belonging to a rich child; it had been left there by her dog. The child has been pining over the doll and refusing to accept any replacements, so her parents put an advert in the local paper offering a reward. Fuzzy takes the doll to a bar and a group of thugs show him the advert.

They all go to the rich family's house and the thugs wait outside for Fuzzy, planning to kill him and take the reward. Fuzzy gives the doll back and a servant gives him the reward, but he refuses to leave until he has had a drink with the lady of the house.

As the thugs wait for Fuzzy in the snow, the lady feels compassion for him and tells her chauffeur to give Fuzzy a lift wherever he wants to go.

Answer: 'Proof of the Pudding'

Westbrook is the editor of the 'Minerva' magazine. He goes for a walk in the park and meets Shackleford Dawe, an old acquaintance and fiction writer who has submitted several stories to 'Minerva', most of which have been returned. His wife Louise is unhappy as he barely earns any money. Dawe asks Westbrook why his latest story has been rejected and Westbrook criticises his style for being too prosaic. Dawe argues that his dialogue is realistic and that people do not speak poetically in real life.

The two of them make a bet: Dawe will write a note to Louise, saying that he has left her, and he and Westbrook will hide nearby and listen to what she says. Unfortunately, Louise beats them to the punch; when Dawe and Westbrook get to Dawe's house, they find a letter from Louise stating that she has joined an opera company, along with Mrs Westbrook, as they are both tired of their husbands. Dawe cries out, "My G-d, why hast Thou given me this cup to drink? Since she is false, then let Thy Heaven's fairest gifts, faith and love, become the jesting bywords of traitors and friends!" Westbrook, on the other hand, says, "Say, Shack, ain't that a hell of a note? Wouldn't that knock you off your perch, Shack? Ain't it hell now, Shack - ain't it?"

Answer: 'Past One at Rooney's'

Eddie 'Cork' McManus gets into a fight in a bar and stabs a member of a rival gang. A fellow gang member warns him to keep a low profile until Tim Corrigan, a powerful ally of the gang, returns from Europe. Cork gets fed up with not being able to go out and eventually goes into Rooney's, a seedy bar, where he meets a woman called Ruby Delamere, who works in a bookbindery.

They have a drink and a smoke together, as Rooney's allows women to smoke. Cork lies that he is a rich stockbroker. When it turns one o'clock, Rooney closes the doors as alcohol is no longer allowed to be served.

The police raid the place and Rooney distracts the police while Frank, his lieutenant, orders everyone to leave via the fire escape. However, Ruby and Cork are unable to leave in time and the police interrogate Cork, but Ruby stands up for him and lies that she has known him for a year, and also reveals that she is a prostitute; she pulls money out of her underwear, claiming Cork is her client.

After they leave, Cork confesses that he stabbed the rival gang member, but Ruby does not care. Cork escorts her to the house of a priest and asks her to marry him, despite her protests - saving her just as she saved him.

Answer: 'The Rose of Dixie'

'The Rose of Dixie' is a Georgia-based magazine edited by Colonel Aquila Telfair. All its contributors are Southerners who come from prominent families, or have family who served in the Confederate Army. A Mr Thacker arrives in the offices of the magazine and expresses interest in marketing 'The Rose of Dixie' to a Northern audience. To Colonel Telfair's annoyance, Thacker criticises the magazine for being too insular and focusing too much on Southern families and points of interest.

He proposes several articles to be featured in an upcoming issue. Colonel Telfair has reservations as he is reserving space for a long article by a very talented writer, which he considers to be one of the best things he has ever read. Thacker eventually agrees to let him run the article; it is the Second Message to Congress, written by none other than Theodore Roosevelt.

Answer: 'The Third Ingredient'

Hetty Pepper is a shop assistant who is fired for slapping a customer after he sexually harasses her. Hetty spends her wages on some beef, planning on making a stew, but lacks potatoes or onions. While carrying her pan down the hall of her boarding-house to get water, she runs into Cecilia, a miniature painter, who is having trouble peeling a potato.

Hetty scrapes it for her and suggests they pool their food. Cecilia bursts into tears and tells Hetty her story: a customer turned one of her paintings down because of the price, and Cecilia tried to kill herself by jumping off the ferry into the North River.

A kind male passenger rescues her and makes sure she gets home safe, but she refuses to tell him her name. Hetty is growing desperate for an onion and as she goes back down the hall, she meets a man with an onion in a bag.

The man tells her that he is going to eat it raw and Hetty invites him to eat with her and Cecilia. She sees him shouting down to a chauffeur and he reveals that the chauffeur works for him, and that he is eating the raw onion as a cure for a cold. On hearing that he got the cold while rescuing a drowning woman, Hetty puts two and two together and sends the man into her room to be reunited with Cecilia while she peels the onion.

Answer: 'Thimble, Thimble'

Blandford and John Carteret are distant cousins who work for a leather and mill supplies company. John's ancestor, also named John, came to America on the Mayflower while Blandford's ancestor, also named Blandford, settled in Virginia. While the Northern Carterets started a flourishing business, the Southern branch were impoverished by the American Civil War and young Blandford was sent north to work in the family business.

In the present day, Blandford receives a letter from his mother, saying that Jake, his father's former slave, is coming to New York to visit him and bring him his father's gold watch. Blandford and John decide to prank the old man by seeing if he can guess which one of them is which by their mannerisms. Jake is unable at first to tell which cousin is Blandford; the main difference between them is the colour of their ties.

While he waits, a woman, Olivia de Ormond, says that she has letters from one of the cousins proposing marriage, and is willing to sell them for either $10,000 dollars or in exchange for marriage.

The cousin in the black tie makes a speech about how much the family has changed over the years; the cousin in the blue tie writes a cheque and she takes it and leaves. Jake then realises which cousin is Blandford and hands over the watch. (Blandford is the one with the black tie.)

Answer: 'Buried Treasure'

Jim, the narrator, is in love with May Martha Mangum, the daughter of an eccentric entomologist, but has competition from Goodloe Banks, a university graduate who insists May Martha prefers intellectuals. Her father hates them both and orders them to leave her alone, and he and May Martha leave town later that week.

A young farmer gives Jim a map leading to buried treasure belonging to the farmer's grandfather. Jim and the farmer search for the treasure, but are unsuccessful; Banks points out that they went in the wrong direction, and he and Jim hunt for the treasure again. Banks notes that the map, despite purporting to be from 1863, is fake; the paper it was written on has a watermark from 1898. Banks goes home in disgust, but Jim continues the search and finds a small cottage where the treasure supposedly is, and a wild man chasing a butterfly. May Martha appears and reveals that she made the map and set the whole thing up, as her father would not let her write; she has been banking on Jim coming.

The two are then married.

Answer: 'The Moment of Victory'

Ben Granger, a postmaster and Spanish-American War veteran, tells the narrator the story of Willie Robbins, a weedy little man he once knew. Willie had fallen in love with Myra Allison, who is in love with another man. At a party, she sees Willie getting ready and tells him that he could 'never be fly'.

When war breaks out between the USA and Spain, both Willie and Ben join the army and Ben discovers that Willie has a bloodthirsty side. Ben complains to his captain and asks to go home, but the captain threatens him with court martial and to his shock, Willie calls him a coward. Ben shows Willie an article about Myra's wedding, but Willie just laughs it off.

When the captain is promoted, Willie becomes the new captain and goes out of his way to cause fights, getting several of his men killed.

When the soldiers return home, the town holds a parade for Willie. After the parade, Willie goes to Myra's new home and says to her, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I could if I tried!"

Answer: 'The Head-Hunter'

On the way home from the Philippines, Tommy Rayburn, the narrator, is dropped off by his ship in an unnamed Central American country. While out drinking with his friend Dr Stamford, Tommy sees Chloe Greene, a vicar's daughter. Tommy falls in love with her, but Dr Stamford warns him that Louis Devoe, a rich merchant and friend of the Greenes, is his competition. Chloe laughs off Tommy's attempts to court her, but is more serious around Devoe. Chloe tells Tommy that she prefers small meaningful gestures to grand ones. Tommy falls ill with a fever and becomes delirious.

When he and Devoe call on Chloe, she talks about how she is craving coconut pudding. Tommy decides to woo Chloe in the style of a Filipino headhunter by decapitating Devoe and giving her his severed head.

He chops off Devoe's head and gives it to Chloe, who is delighted. Dr Stamford, however, gives Tommy a telling-off and sends him to bed. Devoe had sent for him after seeing Tommy chasing away a shopkeeper and stealing his biggest coconut; Tommy has been hallucinating and it is a coconut that he has given Chloe, not a head.

Answer: 'The Last of the Troubadours'

Sam Galloway is a travelling musician, or troubadour, who rides from ranch to ranch with his guitar. He stops off at the home of Ellison, an old sheep rancher, and entertains him with songs and conversation. He settles in at Ellison's ranch. One day, Ellison encounters James King, aka King James, a large and mean cattle rancher who threatens to take over Ellison's land within a week and kill any remaining sheep.

A worried Ellison confides in Sam. Three days later, he runs into King James again, and King James reveals that Ellison's half-sister was his aunt.

As he and Ellison are relatives, he is willing to let Ellison keep his sheep on his ranch and will head off to the bank to withdraw some money for Ellison. When Ellison returns home, his Kiowa cook says that Sam has gone into town. Sam returns and tells Ellison that he has shot King James dead and managed to get bail. Ellison is thoughtful for a while and then asks Sam to play him a Mexican folk song that he loves.