Hearts and Hands

欧·亨利的作品广受青睐，在读者中最为熟知和称道的自然是他小说结尾的出人意料，甚至可以这样说“欧·亨利式的结尾”已经成了某种小说构思和创作模式的指称。但作为小说，不只有技巧这一方面，在欧·亨利的作品里，情节内容的设置同样精彩，他善于捕捉生活中细微的富有哲理的场景，善于把握瞬间人们的心理变化，并把它形象地展示出来。这次你能猜出戴手铐的两个人谁是探长谁是罪犯吗?

At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.

As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman’s glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.

"Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don’t vou ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?"

The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.