Any one not
getting their paper regularly will please come down and see about it,
bringing with them a ham or any little delicacy relished by invalids.
[Illustration: Can he make the jump? (cartoon from _The Rolling
Stone_, October 13, 1894]
LORD OAKHURST'S CURSE
[This story was sent to Dr. Beall of Greensboro, N. C., in a
letter in 1883, and so is one of O. Henry's earliest attempts
at writing.]
I
Lord Oakhurst lay dying in the oak chamber in the eastern wing of
Oakhurst Castle. Through the open window in the calm of the summer
evening, came the sweet fragrance of the early violets and budding
trees, and to the dying man it seemed as if earth's loveliness and
beauty were never so apparent as on this bright June day, his last day
of life.
His young wife, whom he loved with a devotion and strength that the
presence of the king of terrors himself could not alter, moved about
the apartment, weeping and sorrowful, sometimes arranging the sick
man's pillow and inquiring of him in low, mournful tones if anything
could be done to give him comfort, and again, with stifled sobs, eating
some chocolate caramels which she carried in the pocket of her apron.
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