The Hiding of Black Bill by O. Henry
A stranded traveler calling himself Percival Saint Clair walks off the train at a water-tank in the Texas ranch country and hires on as a sheepherder with a small ranchman named Henry Ogden at the Rancho Chiquito, agreeing to work for twelve dollars a month plus rations, camped in a tent with a flock of eight hundred sheep. After five lonesome days with only the muttons for company, Saint Clair goes to Ogden's ranch-house craving human companionship, and the two play casino and drink Bourbon together, striking up an odd friendship despite Saint Clair's private impression that Ogden resembles both a hanged outlaw he once saw in Muscogee and an Arkansas preacher. Ogden mentions a newspaper account of a lone train robber called Black Bill, who held up the M. K. & T. for about $15,000, shot the express agent, dropped a handkerchief bearing his name, and is being tracked into the area because the stolen bills came from the Second National Bank of Espinosa City. Saint Clair muses aloud that a sheep ranch would make an ideal hideout for such a man and, watching Ogden closely, hints that he'd never betray him if Ogden were Black Bill; Ogden bristles, then laughs it off, and the two continue playing cards, with Ogden vaguely claiming to be from the Mississippi Valley. A few days later a deputy sheriff rides up to Saint Clair's sheep camp asking about strangers in the area and about Black Bill. Saint Clair gives him a false description of the ranch's new owner as a fat, whiskered Dutchman, and later tells Ogden about the encounter; the two drink again, this time toasting to Black Bill's good luck. At shearing time, Saint Clair drives his flock to the ranch-house and finds Ogden asleep. While Ogden sleeps, Saint Clair notices a posse of five armed men approaching, led by the same deputy. He greets them, and the captain questions him, offering a reward for information leading to Black Bill's capture and conviction. Saint Clair bargains, extracts about $102.30 in cash and $31 in tobacco from the posse, and then tells them Black Bill is asleep inside the house. The posse enters, seizes Ogden, and the captain searches him, pulling from his coat pocket a handful of new bills from the Second National Bank of Espinosa City — proof, to the posse, of his guilt. Ogden protests he can prove his identity but says nothing further once the money is found. He calmly puts the ranch in the hands of the other herder, John Sallies, giving instructions as if he expected to return soon, before being led away by the posse. Saint Clair, now holding $109 in wages and reward money, rides off south on one of the ranch's horses. The narrator, revealed as the red-faced man telling this story on the station platform at Los Piños to his seedy old friend Snipy, finishes the tale. Snipy objects that betraying a man who had fed him and befriended him is out of character. The red-faced man replies that Ogden was later cleared by a lawyer through alibis and suffered no real harm, and that he himself planted the incriminating bills in Ogden's pocket while he slept, upon seeing the posse ride up — because he himself is Black Bill. As a freight train's whistle sounds in the distance, he tells Snipy to look out, as they prepare to board it on the bumpers when it stops to take on water.
By O. Henry · First published 1907 · Genre: Short Story, Crime Fiction, Humor · 5,732 words
First lines
A lank, strong, red-faced man with a Wellington beak and small, fiery eyes tempered by flaxen lashes, sat on the station platform at Los Piños swinging his legs to and fro. At his side sat another man, fat, melancholy, and seedy, who seemed to be his friend. They had the appearance of men to whom life had appeared as a reversible coat -- seamy on both sides.
"Ain't seen you in about four years, Ham," said the seedy man. "Which way you been travelling?"
Similar titles
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- Sufficient Provocation by O. Henry
- Somebody Lied by O. Henry
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- The Sheriff Of Kona by Jack London
Genres
- Short Story — The work is a concise narrative that encapsulates a complete story arc within a limited word count.
- Crime Fiction — The plot revolves around a train robbery and the subsequent pursuit of the robber, incorporating elements of crime and law enforcement.
- Humor — The writing style employs wit and irony, with humorous dialogue and situations that provide comedic relief.
- Western — The setting and characters are typical of the Western genre, featuring ranch life and themes of rugged individualism.
Tags
Western Fiction · Short Story · Mystery · Thriller · Crime · Adventure · Humor · Satire · Social Commentary · American Literature · Classic Short Story · Pulp Fiction
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The Hiding of Black Bill is listed on Textopian as a short story by O. Henry, dated 1907 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: O. Henry
- Date: 1907 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Story, Crime Fiction, Humor, Western, Adventure
- Length: 5,732 words
- Structure: 1 section, 123 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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