Before O. Henry went to New York and wrote all the charming tales of the City with a surprise ending, he spent three years in Texas as a cowman, and before that was raised in Norh Carolina. What? O. Henry wasn't born in New York? No, he wasn't. And his first book of stories are Texas stories: "Heart of the West." "A Call Loan" is a tale of long time friends having to face a missing $10,000. It's good O. Henry and the language is true to the time and place, because Mr. Porter was of the Texas time and place. And that's a time and place long gone.
