O. Henry's Full House Page #5

she'd pass the crisis.

I can only do so much.

Well!

- The broth will be warm in a minute.

- I'm not hungry.

Another one.

What?

- You know, it's funny.

- What's funny?

Oh, the things you notice

when you're ill.

Things you never

noticed before.

Like what?

Like that ivy vine

across the court.

What about it?

Yesterday I counted

exactly 21 leaves on it.

- Don't you think that's funny?

- Why funny?

Don't you see?

I'm 21.

Now there are only 14.

I'm getting younger.

In a day or so,

they'll all be gone.

And when

the last leaf goes-

That's funny too,

isn't it?

The way things live...

die.

Oh, but it's good

to be alive, Jo!

You believe that,

don't you, baby?

I'm so tired, Sue.

You take a nap.

It'll do you

a world of good.

- Don't- Don't do that.

- I just want to darken the room.

I like to look outside

when I wake up.

You will try to get

some sleep, won't you?

I'll try.

That old goat!

- It doesn't bother me, Sue.

Well, it bothers me.

- Come in!

How's your sister?

If you really cared,

l wouldn't have to be here again.

Oh, yes, I know.

I'm making so much noise.

But, you see,

when I paint...

I get so mad with myself

that l- I forget myself.

Is she really so sick, huh?

I thought by now she-

- No.

- What's wrong with her?

I don't know.

She's got some crazy idea

about the leaves...

on the vine

across the court.

What kind

of a crazy idea?

I think she-

Oh, it's so hard to explain.

But- But somehow she feels that the vine

has something to do with her life...

that-

That when

all the leaves go...

she'll go.

Look, Susan, this is

all absolutely crazy.

I know it sounds silly, but... the way she talked

about the vine just now.

Look, now, you're-

you're tired.

You haven't slept all these nights,

and all this is making you sick too.

If you could have

heard her-

Maybe you're right.

- Maybe I am beginning to imagine things.

- Of course you are.

Now, look, you go

to your sister...

and I promise you

I'll be as quiet as a mouse.

A dead one.

Hey! No more

of these crazy ideas.

All right.

Jo! Jo!

Those leaves

don't mean a thing.

You're going to get well,

baby.

You're going to get well!

We should know by morning.

- Behrman!

- I'm sorry.

I'm just a little bit tipsy.

Now, just-

Go on, sing!

It's a happy occasion.

What do you care

aboutJoanna?

You've done everything you could

to keep her from getting well.

I don't ask you

to forgive me. L-

I just want you

to understand.

Please, go away.

It's only today that...

for the first time,

l finally realized what I really am.

A three-dollar painter.

No more, no less.

My paintings, they've got

nothing to say to nobody.

And I know why.

It is because I

got nothing to say.

And when an artist knows...

there's nothing left for him to do

but just to drown himself.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Mr. Behrman, I'm so upset,

l don't know what I'm saying half the time.

Don't worry, Susan.

You really didn't say nothing

that wasn't true.

What are we going to do?

I was right

about the leaves.

There's just one left now.

It'll be gone by morning,

and when Jo wakes up-

But that kind of thing

can't happen, can it?

It- It just can't happen.

Have courage, Susan.

And if a prayer

of an old goat will help...

your sister will get well.

Don't worry. She'll get well.

She'll get well.

- Susan?

- Here I am, Jo.

Let me see the leaves.

- No, not now.

- But I want to know.

- Later, Jo. Later.

- Please, Sue.

It hung on, Jo,

right through the storm.

Isn't that something?

And if one brave

little leaf can do it...

you can do it too.

How do you feel?

I'm hungry, Doctor.

Well, that's the first sense

you've made in days.

- Some broth?

- Yeah.

Well, I'll- I'll

stop by tonight...

uh, just to say hello.

- Sue?

- Yes?

Could l- Could I have

my mirror and my brush?

Oh, Sue!

What's going on?

I'll find out.

- What is it, Mrs. O'Brien?

- Why, it's the old man.

- That artist fellow upstairs in 3-B.

- Mr. Behrman?

He was drunk last night,

staggering around in the snow.

I saw him kneeling on the ground

as though he were a dog or something.

- What happened?

- An old man his age in the snow for hours?

His heart gave out.

They found him this morning. He's dead.

Oh, he was crazy

like all them artists.

Imagine, in the middle of the night,

he come and asked me for a lantern.

Oh, but he was a nice

old coot at that, you know?

What is it, Sue?

- Behrman?

- Yes.

What happened?

He died last night.

Oh.

- Poor old Behrman.

- Yes.

Poor old Behrman.

It won't be the same without

all that noise upstairs-

Stomping around, breaking things

every time he finished a painting.

He was a good friend

of ours, Jo.

Too bad he wasn't

a better artist.

l could never make head or tail

out of anything he ever painted.

I think you're wrong, Jo.

He was a great artist.

Someday I'll tell you

how great.

O. Henry had been,

at one time or another...

a druggist, cowboy,

bookkeeper, reporter, editor.

To O. Henry., no one was too good

to slip or too bad to climb.

Consider

"The Ransom of Red Chief."

It happens in rural Alabama

in the early 1900s.

There you are, William.

Six miles to our destination.

Just about

the right distance away.

Let's take a look

over this way.

- This looks like a likely spot.

- Not to me.

William, this is

a perfect hideaway.

Look, a cave, running water,

all the comforts of home.

Mmm. I don't like any place

that hasn't got a door on it.

A nice, quiet spot

to spend a few days.

And nights. Slick, have you ever

slept out of doors?

William, don't tell me

you're afraid of the country.

There's nothing I'm not afraid of,

especially the country.

- Why, every time I see a-What's that?

- What is it?

- William, don't act like a child.

It's nothing but a squirrel

or a cat of some sort.

Well, do something.

Get rid of it! Hurry up!

Go away, p*ssy.

Go away. Nice p*ssy.

Go away, p*ssy.

Go on, go on, go on!

You see, it's nothing

if you're not afraid.

But I am.

Never let an animal

know that you're afraid.

It's no use. They seem

to sense it somehow.

Come on. Let's unload

the provisions and get into town.

You know, Slick, I think we should give up

the whole scheme.

- It worries me.

- Why?

Kidnapping.

It's against the law.

You can't go around throwing sacks

over strangers' heads.

You weren't worried about the law when we

sold that oil stock up there in Peoria.

That was different. They were old friends of ours.

We knew them intimately.

There's something impersonal about an

oil well. I wouldn't know one if I saw it.

An oil well is a hole in the ground

surrounded by suckers.

Mmm. I still think kidnapping's

no way to raise money.

That gets down

to a matter of opinion.

Which one of us

is the smarter?

How many times have you

been in jail, William?

- Six times.

- I have only been incarcerated twice.

So the answer is obvious.

I don't like it.

It involves children.

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