never lifts. All is fortissimo; he slaps the reader on the back and
laughs loudly as if he were in a bar-room. His characters, with few
exceptions, are extremes, caricatures. Even his shop girls, in the
limning of whom he did his best work, are not really individuals;
rather are they types, symbols. His work was literary vaudeville,
brilliant, highly amusing, and yet vaudeville."[9] _The Duplicity of
Hargraves_, the story by O. Henry given in this volume, is free from
most of his defects. It has a blend of humor and pathos that puts it
on a plane of universal appeal.

George Randolph Chester (1869- ) gained distinction by creating the
genial modern business man of American literature who is not content
to "get rich quick" through the ordinary channels. Need I say that I
refer to that amazing compound of likeableness and sharp practices,
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford? The story of his included in this volume,
_Bargain Day at Tutt House_ (June, 1905, _McClure's_), was nearly his
first story; only two others, which came out in _The Saturday Evening
Post_ in 1903 and 1904, preceded it. Its breathless dramatic action is
well balanced by humor. Other stories of his deserving of special
mention are: _A Corner in Farmers_ (February, 29, 1908, _Saturday
Evening Post_), _A Fortune in Smoke_ (March 14, 1908, _Saturday
Evening Post_), _Easy Money_ (November 14, 1908, _Saturday Evening
Post_), _The Triple Cross_ (December 5, 1908, _Saturday Evening
Post_), _Spoiling the Egyptians_ (December 26, 1908, _Saturday Evening
Post_), _Whipsawed!_ (January 16, 1909, _Saturday Evening Post_), _The
Bubble Bank_ (January 30 and February 6, 1909, _Saturday Evening
Post_), _Straight Business_ (February 27, 1909, _Saturday Evening
Post_), _Sam Turner: a Business Man's Love Story_ (March 26, April 2
and 9, 1910, _Saturday Evening Post_), _Fundamental Justice_ (July 25,
1914, _Saturday Evening Post_), _A Scropper Patcher_ (October, 1916,