O. Henry’s “Jimmy Valentine’s Address” in Brief Content


The famous safe burglar Jimmy Valentine, once again going to freedom, quietly taken for the old. There is a series of daring robberies, losses are significant, and the evidence is negligible. The case takes such a serious turn that the investigation is entrusted to the famous detective Ben Price, which allows the safe owners to breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Valentine arrives in a mail coach to the town of Elmore in Arkansas. Of course, his local bank is interested. However, coming to the bank, he meets a girl, and this meeting radically changes his destiny. Now Jimmy decides to stay longer in Elmore and, under a strange name, opens a shoe store there. The commercial venture of Jimmy Valentine flourishes, and he himself – of course, under an assumed name – becomes a prominent figure in the city. He gets acquainted with the charming daughter of the banker Annabel Adams, becomes a man in the house of her parents, who favored the young businessman, and therefore

it is not surprising that when he made Annabel a proposal, it was favorably received.

Jimmy writes a letter to the old Friend, where he reports that he decided to quit the old one and is going to now live by honest work. According to him, immediately after the wedding, he will sell the store and, together with his young wife, will go west – “less risk that the old affairs will come up.” He negotiates with a friend about a meeting in Little Rock, where he wants to give him his precious suitcase with a set of drills and keys that served him faithfully, but now have become unnecessary.

But the day before Jimmy left for Elmore, the detective Ben Price arrived. He quickly finds out everything that interests him. “You want to marry the daughter of a banker,” he muttered with a grin, “I do not know, right…”

Jimmy is going to Little Rock. At the bank, the crew is waiting for him to be delivered to the station. But there is still time before the train, and the banker invites all his relatives and Jimmy to the bank to show the newly equipped pantry with a

safe. While everyone is looking with interest at ingenious locks and bolts, Ben Price appears at the bank and with a smile awaits his prey.

But here comes the unforeseen. Ten-year-old niece Annabel May locks in her pantry her little sister Agatha. The banker is horrified. The clock mechanism is not installed, and the door just does not open. You can call a specialist from another city, but during this time the girl can die from lack of air and fright. Annabelle looks at the person she worships her and begs him to do something. Jimmy asks for a flower from her memory, opens her suitcase and starts to work. After breaking all records, he opens the safe, and the girl, unharmed, is in the arms of the mother. Jimmy puts on his jacket and goes to the big man blocking the passage, saying: “Hello, Ben… I’ve come to me.” Well, let’s go, now I do not care. “

But the great detective behaves unexpectedly. He assures Jimmy that he, most likely, was mistaken, for they are unfamiliar, and in general, it seems, the crew is waiting for him. After agreeing, Ben Price leaves the bank and leaves the street.


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O. Henry’s “Jimmy Valentine’s Address” in Brief Content