1
Frio– The Rio Frio arises in mountainous country about 75 miles west of San Antonio and flows southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. Its upper stretches are spring-fed and often crystal-clear.
2
lobos– (Spanish) wolves
3
mayordomo– (Spanish) steward, head of the household staff; also a ranch foreman
4
pear– prickly-pear cactus, the most common variety of large cactus in Texas, often growing in great clumps
5
Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1862) was a self-taught historian. He planned a series of books to explain the idea that history – especially the progress of nations and peoples – followed laws similar to those being described in the natural sciences. The first volume of his History of Civilization in England, published in 1857, was only an introduction to his theme, but it made Buckle a celebrity. The second volume appeared in 1861, but Buckle died the following year without completing his series. The two volumes were widely read during the decade or two after his death. O. Henry read voraciously as a child and would likely have been familiar with the work.
6
Septimus Winner (1827-1902), a gifted composer (he wrote "Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone."), teacher, and performer was the author of at least 200 books on how to play numerous musical instruments.
7
The Lick Observatory, the first permanent mountain-top observatory, was built in the 1880's. Its 36-inch refracting telescope was the largest in the world until the Yerkes Observatory was opened in 1897.
8
"Two Orphans" – probably a reference to a popular play, "Le Deux Orphelines," written in 1875 by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon
9
opodeldoc– a camphorated liniment of soap mixed with alcohol
10
animals.. there– a reference to delerium tremens, in which hallucinatory visions of animals or insects is common. O. Henry was a heavy drinker in his later years (he probably died of complications of alcoholism) and might have experienced delerium tremens personally.
11
Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) wrote novels set in exotic locations. His best known work is King Solomon's Mines (1885).
Lew Dockstader had one of the last major travelling minstrel companies and was its principal comedian.
Dr. Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842-1933), pastor of New York's Madison Square Presbyterian Church from 1880 to 1919, was noted for his denunciations of vice and governmental corruption. He was instrumental in the campaign against Tammany Hall.
12
botts– a parasitic intestation of the intestines of animals, especially horses, by larvae of the botfly
13
Homer K… Ruby Ott– If the reader has not yet deciphered the references, he should consult Project Gutenberg's e-book #246 ( )
14
"deep as first love, and wild with all regret"– Tennyson, The Princess, Part IV, Song:
"Deep as remembered kisses after death,And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'dOn lips that are for others; deep as love,Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;O Death in Life, the days that are no more."One must wonder whether O. Henry remembered these lines because of the untimely death of his young first wife Athol, whom he loved dearly.
15
cañada– (Spanish) a sheep camp or ranch
16
San Miguel Creek flows into the Frio south of San Antonio near the ranches where O. Henry lived in his youth.
17
The Nueces River is one of the major rivers of West Texas, running roughly parallel to and west of the Frio.
18
Palestine is a town in East Texas, but Jud mistakes it for the Holy Land.
19
merino– a breed of sheep noted for fine wool
20
O. Henry was an expert marksman with a pistol, a skill he picked up on the Texas ranches. Marksmanship plays an important role in another story in this book, "The Princess and the Puma."
21
piedra– (Spanish) stone; a rocky place
22
howdah– a seat, often with a canopy, for riding an elephant or camel
23
The San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad, affectionately called the "SAAP" by two generations of Texans, was eventually incorporated into the International & Great Northern and later into the Missouri Pacific. As late as 1920 summer vacationers going to Central Texas resorts such as Comfort could take the S.A. & A.P. from San Antonio as far as Boerne (now on the northern edge of San Antonio) and then ride a stagecoach the rest of the way.
24
Grease-us– a play on the name of Croesus
25
Eighteenth Century mariners called the petrel (a large sea bird) "Mother Cary's chicken."
26
crack-loo– a form of gambling in which coins are tossed high into the air with the object having one's coin land nearest a crack in the floor
27
The Menger Hotel was (and still is) a San Antonio landmark. Built in 1859 near the Alamo, its guests have included Robert E. Lee, U. S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Sarah Bernhardt.
28
suaderos– O. Henry uses this term in several stories. He probably meant "sudaderos," which are saddle blankets or pads. The term is also sometimes used to refer to pads that prevent the stirrup straps from rubbing the
