#463 Hearts & Crosses- O. Henry

#463 Hearts & Crosses- O. Henry

Intrigue on a western ranch. Webb Yeager was the foreman of McAllister’s ranch. He was a stern and respected cow-punch and his men liked him. McCallister liked how his foreman ran the ranch, but didn’t like that his daughter and him were getting too close. But love will endure, the two developed a secret code to talk with each.

I found this story a little out of O.Henry’s wheelhouse. You expect a little dating in language and tone, but even for O.Henry’s time the attempts at lingo and dialect fall a little flat. This is not O.Henry’s New York City. It’s inauthentic and as story telling goes, not of the caliber of O.Henry’s best.

Rating: 6-6-5-5 Total= 22

#183 The Chimpanzees of Wyoming Territory- Don Zancanella

#183 The Chimpanzees of Wyoming Territory- Don Zancanella

This is a road/trail journal from the frontier during the post civil war 1860’s. Two veterans travel to meet a partner and mine their gold claim. They are entertainers who have acquired two performing Chimpanzees.

“I pity mankind. We have contracted a disease of the spirit. IT robs us of our compassion. It is contagious madness. It is worse than typhoid. It compels us to murder the innocent. We bleed the grace from the everlasting souls.”

Notable Passage: “Miners are like poker players. They continue because all their hardships can be redeemed by a single run of luck.”

Rating: 7-7-7-6 Total= 27