The Green Door (Henry)

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O. Henry

The Green Door

Summary of the book
from the Collection «The Four Million»

Rudolf Steiner is a true adventurer, always looking for the unexpected and the egregious. One evening, he is handed a card by a giant African man, dressed in a red embroidered coat, yellow trousers and a military cap, who is discreetly distributing cards to those of the passing crowd who consent to take them.

🧔🏼‍♂️

Rudolf Steiner — young adventurer in his 20s; piano salesman; pleasing presence, topaz ring in his tie; true follower of adventure; grey eyes, chestnut hair, pert nose.

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African — giant negro, fantastically dressed in a red embroidered coat, yellow trousers and a military cap; discreetly distributed cards to those of the passing crowd; cold, contemptuous disdain.

Rudolf looks at the card and sees that it is blank, except for the words "The Green Door" written in ink. He notices that other people are being handed the same card, and when he turns them over, they all bear the printed legend of a dentist's parlours.

Rudolf is intrigued and decides to investigate. He walks up the steps of the building and finds a green door at the top of the stairs. He knocks and a young girl, not yet twenty, answers the door.

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Girl — not yet 20; white-faced and tottering; grey eyes, little nose, chestnut hair; extreme poverty; frank, grey eyes, little nose, chestnut hair; woefully thin and pale.

She is pale and weak, having gone without food for three days. Rudolf takes her inside and brings her food from the grocery and the restaurant. As she eats, she tells him her story of being a shop girl with insufficient wages, further reduced by "fines" that go to swell the store's profits, and of time lost through illness, leading to her losing her job and ending up at the green door.

Rudolf is moved by her story and promises to come back the next day to check on her. As he leaves, he notices that all the doors in the building are painted green. He confronts the African man with the cards and the man tells him that the cards were for a play called "The Green Door" at a nearby theatre.

At the corner of the block, Rudolf stops for a glass of beer and a cigar. As he smokes, he reflects that it was the hand of Fate that led him to the green door.