As with many stories by William Porter (aka O. Henry), in Hearts and Hands things are not as they first seem. An attractive, refined-looking young woman is returning East by train after spending time in the ‘Wild West’. She greets a handsome young man she knows, only to see that he is handcuffed to a roughly dressed, glum-faced companion. One of the men is a marshal, the other a criminal being escorted to prison. The themes of the story are understanding and compassion, and that looks can be deceiving. Although we aren’t told, could the woman also be hiding something?
Original Text / PDF / Audio (869 words)
Video Version
This is episode 7 of The O. Henry Playhouse, a 1956/57 TV series featuring adaptions of famous O. Henry stories. As the original story has little more than eight minutes of text, a lot of padding has been added to fill the half-hour time slot. Watch and enjoy!