The Cactus

O. Henry's poignant tale of a failed courtship.

On the day his beloved marries another man, Trysdale reflects on his own courtship and how it came to a peculiar end. He had asked the girl to marry him and the next day she had sent him a cactus in a pot. No note, no message. But from that moment the relationship fell apart.

But why? Who was to blame? What was the meaning of the cactus?

O. Henry at his most ingenious... and with a wonderful twist in the tale.