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The Hiding Of Black Bill
O. Henry supo captar el espíritu de la época en la que vivió. Estos cuentos son una radiografía de la formación de Nueva York, que en 1900 ya contaba con cuatro millones de habitantes, cada uno de los cuales constituía para él «una historia digna de ser contada.
Cada relato es una pequeña obra maestra con sorprendente final.
- GenresShort Stories
Unknown Binding
First published November 1, 1997
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About the author
O. Henry
2,919 books1,891 followersSuch volumes as
Cabbages and Kings
(1904) and
The Four Million
(1906) collect short stories, noted for their often surprising endings, of American writer William Sydney Porter, who used the pen name O. Henry.
His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. His era produced their voices and his language.
Mother of three-year-old Porter died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen years of age and worked for five years in drugstore of his uncle and then for two years at a Texas sheep ranch.
In 1884, he went to Austin, where he worked in a real estate office and a church choir and spent four years as a draftsman in the general land office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.
He failed to establish a small humorous weekly and afterward worked in poorly-run bank. When its accounts balanced not, people blamed and fired him.
In Houston, he worked for a few years until, ordered to stand trial for embezzlement, he fled to New Orleans and thence Honduras.
Two years later, he returned on account of illness of his wife. Apprehended, Porter served a few months more than three years in a penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. During his incarceration, he composed ten short stories, including A Blackjack Bargainer , The Enchanted Kiss , and The Duplicity of Hargraves .
In 1899, McClure's published Whistling Dick's Christmas Story and Georgia's Ruling .
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he sent manuscripts to New York editors. In the spring of 1902, Ainslee's Magazine offered him a regular income if he moved to New York.
In less than eight years, he became a bestselling author of collections of short stories. Cabbages and Kings came first in 1904 The Four Million, and The Trimmed Lamp and Heart of the West followed in 1907, and The Voice of the City in 1908, Roads of Destiny and Options in 1909, Strictly Business and Whirligigs in 1910 followed.
Posthumously published collections include The Gentle Grafter about the swindler, Jeff Peters; Rolling Stones , Waifs and Strays , and in 1936, unsigned stories, followed.
People rewarded other persons financially more. A Retrieved Reformation about the safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine got $250; six years later, $500 for dramatic rights, which gave over $100,000 royalties for playwright Paul Armstrong. Many stories have been made into films.
His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. His era produced their voices and his language.
Mother of three-year-old Porter died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen years of age and worked for five years in drugstore of his uncle and then for two years at a Texas sheep ranch.
In 1884, he went to Austin, where he worked in a real estate office and a church choir and spent four years as a draftsman in the general land office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.
He failed to establish a small humorous weekly and afterward worked in poorly-run bank. When its accounts balanced not, people blamed and fired him.
In Houston, he worked for a few years until, ordered to stand trial for embezzlement, he fled to New Orleans and thence Honduras.
Two years later, he returned on account of illness of his wife. Apprehended, Porter served a few months more than three years in a penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. During his incarceration, he composed ten short stories, including A Blackjack Bargainer , The Enchanted Kiss , and The Duplicity of Hargraves .
In 1899, McClure's published Whistling Dick's Christmas Story and Georgia's Ruling .
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he sent manuscripts to New York editors. In the spring of 1902, Ainslee's Magazine offered him a regular income if he moved to New York.
In less than eight years, he became a bestselling author of collections of short stories. Cabbages and Kings came first in 1904 The Four Million, and The Trimmed Lamp and Heart of the West followed in 1907, and The Voice of the City in 1908, Roads of Destiny and Options in 1909, Strictly Business and Whirligigs in 1910 followed.
Posthumously published collections include The Gentle Grafter about the swindler, Jeff Peters; Rolling Stones , Waifs and Strays , and in 1936, unsigned stories, followed.
People rewarded other persons financially more. A Retrieved Reformation about the safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine got $250; six years later, $500 for dramatic rights, which gave over $100,000 royalties for playwright Paul Armstrong. Many stories have been made into films.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 27, 2024
O. Henry's "The Hiding of Black Bill" is a short story about the mystery of who the criminal Black Bill is. Could it be one of the two men from the sheep ranch or someone else? I was not sure but all makes sense in the end.
Story in short- A traveler finds a job at a sheep ranch whose owner has owned for only a month, both could be Black Bill.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19305
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 Pinos 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.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19323
“‘It’s a drink I want,’ says I. ‘Never mind the dust that’s on the outside.’ “He gets me a dipper of water out of a red jar hanging up, and then goes on: “‘Do you want work?’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19325
“‘For a time,’ says I. ‘This is a rather quiet section of the country, isn’t it?’ “‘It is,’ says he. ‘Sometimes — so I have been told — one sees no human being pass for weeks at a time. I’ve been here only a month. I bought the ranch from an old settler who wanted to move farther west.’ “‘It suits me,’ says I. ‘Quiet and retirement are good for a man sometimes. And I need a job. I can tend bar, salt mines, lecture, float stock, do a little middle-weight slugging, and play the piano.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19330
“‘Can you herd sheep?’ asks the little ranchman. “‘Do you mean have I heard sheep?’ says I. “‘Can you herd ’em — take charge of a flock of ’em?’ says he. “‘Oh,’ says I, ‘now I understand. You mean chase ’em around and bark at ’em like collie dogs. Well, I might,’ says I. ‘I’ve never exactly done any sheep-herding, but I’ve often seen ’em from car windows masticating daisies, and they don’t look dangerous.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19335
“‘I’m short a herder,’ says the ranchman. ‘You never can depend on the Mexicans. I’ve only got two flocks. You may take out my bunch of muttons — there are only eight hundred of ’em — in the morning, if you like. The pay is twelve dollars a month and your rations furnished. You camp in a tent on the prairie with your sheep. You do your own cooking, but wood and water are brought to your camp. It’s an easy job.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19368
“‘Do you remember reading in the papers, about a month ago,’ says he, ‘about a train hold-up on the M. K. & T.? The express agent was shot through the shoulder and about $15,000 in currency taken. And it’s said that only one man did the job.’ “‘Seems to me I do,’ says I. ‘But such things happen so often they don’t linger long in the human Texas mind. Did they overtake,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19372
overhaul, seize, or lay hands upon the despoiler?’ “‘He escaped,’ says Ogden. ‘And I was just reading in a paper to-day that the officers have tracked him down into this part of the country. It seems the bills the robber got were all the first issue of currency to the Second National Bank of Espinosa City. And so they’ve followed the trail where they’ve been spent, and it leads this way.’ “Ogden pours out some more Bourbon, and shoves me the bottle.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19376
“‘I imagine,’ says I, after ingurgitating another modicum of the royal booze, ‘that it wouldn’t be at all a disingenuous idea for a train robber to run down into this part of the country to hide for a spell. A sheep-ranch, now,’ says I, ‘would be the finest kind of a place. Who’d ever expect to find such a desperate character among these song-birds and muttons and wild flowers? And, by the way,’ says I, kind of looking H. Ogden over, ‘was there any description mentioned of this single-handed terror? Was his lineaments
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19380
or height and thickness or teeth fillings or style of habiliments set forth in print?’ “‘Why, no,’ says Ogden; ‘they say nobody got a good sight of him because he wore a mask. But they know it was a train-robber called Black Bill, because he always works alone and because he dropped a handkerchief in the express-car that had his name on it.’ “‘All right,’ says I. ‘I approve of Black Bill’s retreat to the sheep-ranges. I guess they won’t find him.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19384
“‘There’s one thousand dollars reward for his capture,’ says Ogden. “‘I don’t need that kind of money,’ says I, looking Mr. Sheepman straight in the eye. ‘The twelve dollars a month you pay me is enough. I need a rest, and I can save up until I get enough to pay my fare to Texarkana, where my widowed mother lives. If Black Bill,’ I goes on, looking significantly at Ogden, ‘was to have come down this way — say, a month ago — and bought a little sheep-ranch and—’
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Ogden the rancher who just bought the ranch a month ago hires a stranger, Percival Saint Clair to tend sheep. They both start to wonder which of them is Black Bill. But they both are friendly until Clair sees the sheriff and posse come. Ogden is asleep and Clair tells the sheriff that Black Bill is asleep inside and the stolen money found on him. Later it is clear that though he felt bad for sending an innocent man to jail but being Black Bill he had to get away so he planted the money on Ogden.
Story in short- A traveler finds a job at a sheep ranch whose owner has owned for only a month, both could be Black Bill.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19305
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 Pinos 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.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19323
“‘It’s a drink I want,’ says I. ‘Never mind the dust that’s on the outside.’ “He gets me a dipper of water out of a red jar hanging up, and then goes on: “‘Do you want work?’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19325
“‘For a time,’ says I. ‘This is a rather quiet section of the country, isn’t it?’ “‘It is,’ says he. ‘Sometimes — so I have been told — one sees no human being pass for weeks at a time. I’ve been here only a month. I bought the ranch from an old settler who wanted to move farther west.’ “‘It suits me,’ says I. ‘Quiet and retirement are good for a man sometimes. And I need a job. I can tend bar, salt mines, lecture, float stock, do a little middle-weight slugging, and play the piano.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19330
“‘Can you herd sheep?’ asks the little ranchman. “‘Do you mean have I heard sheep?’ says I. “‘Can you herd ’em — take charge of a flock of ’em?’ says he. “‘Oh,’ says I, ‘now I understand. You mean chase ’em around and bark at ’em like collie dogs. Well, I might,’ says I. ‘I’ve never exactly done any sheep-herding, but I’ve often seen ’em from car windows masticating daisies, and they don’t look dangerous.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19335
“‘I’m short a herder,’ says the ranchman. ‘You never can depend on the Mexicans. I’ve only got two flocks. You may take out my bunch of muttons — there are only eight hundred of ’em — in the morning, if you like. The pay is twelve dollars a month and your rations furnished. You camp in a tent on the prairie with your sheep. You do your own cooking, but wood and water are brought to your camp. It’s an easy job.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19368
“‘Do you remember reading in the papers, about a month ago,’ says he, ‘about a train hold-up on the M. K. & T.? The express agent was shot through the shoulder and about $15,000 in currency taken. And it’s said that only one man did the job.’ “‘Seems to me I do,’ says I. ‘But such things happen so often they don’t linger long in the human Texas mind. Did they overtake,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19372
overhaul, seize, or lay hands upon the despoiler?’ “‘He escaped,’ says Ogden. ‘And I was just reading in a paper to-day that the officers have tracked him down into this part of the country. It seems the bills the robber got were all the first issue of currency to the Second National Bank of Espinosa City. And so they’ve followed the trail where they’ve been spent, and it leads this way.’ “Ogden pours out some more Bourbon, and shoves me the bottle.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19376
“‘I imagine,’ says I, after ingurgitating another modicum of the royal booze, ‘that it wouldn’t be at all a disingenuous idea for a train robber to run down into this part of the country to hide for a spell. A sheep-ranch, now,’ says I, ‘would be the finest kind of a place. Who’d ever expect to find such a desperate character among these song-birds and muttons and wild flowers? And, by the way,’ says I, kind of looking H. Ogden over, ‘was there any description mentioned of this single-handed terror? Was his lineaments
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19380
or height and thickness or teeth fillings or style of habiliments set forth in print?’ “‘Why, no,’ says Ogden; ‘they say nobody got a good sight of him because he wore a mask. But they know it was a train-robber called Black Bill, because he always works alone and because he dropped a handkerchief in the express-car that had his name on it.’ “‘All right,’ says I. ‘I approve of Black Bill’s retreat to the sheep-ranges. I guess they won’t find him.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 19384
“‘There’s one thousand dollars reward for his capture,’ says Ogden. “‘I don’t need that kind of money,’ says I, looking Mr. Sheepman straight in the eye. ‘The twelve dollars a month you pay me is enough. I need a rest, and I can save up until I get enough to pay my fare to Texarkana, where my widowed mother lives. If Black Bill,’ I goes on, looking significantly at Ogden, ‘was to have come down this way — say, a month ago — and bought a little sheep-ranch and—’
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Ogden the rancher who just bought the ranch a month ago hires a stranger, Percival Saint Clair to tend sheep. They both start to wonder which of them is Black Bill. But they both are friendly until Clair sees the sheriff and posse come. Ogden is asleep and Clair tells the sheriff that Black Bill is asleep inside and the stolen money found on him. Later it is clear that though he felt bad for sending an innocent man to jail but being Black Bill he had to get away so he planted the money on Ogden.
June 30, 2019
A man who has wandered into the backwaters of Texas takes work as a sheepherder from a newly established rancher in the area. News spreads that the notorious outlaw Black Bill is hiding in the area and a healthy reward is posted. Who is Black Bill: the rancher or the sheepherder?
Unlike some writers who stuck to one particular area in their writing, i.e. Faulkner, O. Henry isn't afraid of setting stories in New York or in the Wild West. He is able to pull both off with easy skill. As always there is a twist in the story. Not my favorite O. Henry story but it is well done.
Unlike some writers who stuck to one particular area in their writing, i.e. Faulkner, O. Henry isn't afraid of setting stories in New York or in the Wild West. He is able to pull both off with easy skill. As always there is a twist in the story. Not my favorite O. Henry story but it is well done.
January 7, 2026
I love it when I don't see the ending twist of a short story coming. It means either the author has hidden the details from us, and it was impossible to discern, or that we missed it. Of course, the last part is what makes the mystery detective stories great... they usually always have the sleuth explain in brilliant fashion the clues we all Missed Or Didn't Even Understand. 🤣
February 9, 2026
I saw this one coming.
July 8, 2016
Great O. Henry short story. Worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews