How it Started

"How It Started" is a short story by O. Henry that explores themes of love, misunderstanding, and the whimsical nature of relationships. The narrative revolves around an encounter between two characters, whose interaction leads to unexpected revelations and emotional twists. O. Henry's signature style of wit and irony is evident as the story unfolds, revealing how a seemingly simple event can set off a chain of circumstances that shape their destinies. The story ultimately highlights the serendipitous beginnings of love and the playful intricacies of human connections.

• Short story

								
"You had better move your chair a little further back," said the old
resident. "I saw one of the Judkinses go into the newspaper office
just now with his gun, and there may be some shooting."

The reporter, who was in the town gathering information for the big
edition, got his chair quickly behind a pillar of the hotel piazza,
and asked what the trouble was about.

"It's an old feud of several years' standing," said the old resident,
"between the editor and the Judkins family. About every two months
they get to shooting at one another. Everybody in town knows about it.
This is the way it started. The Judkinses live in another town, and
one time a good-looking young lady of the family came here on a visit
to a Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown gave her a big party--a regular high-toned
affair, to get the young men acquainted with her. One young fellow
fell in love with her, and sent a little poem to our paper, the
Observer. This is the way it read:

    To Miss Judkins
    (Visiting Mrs. T. Montcalm Brown.)

    "We love to see her wear
      A gown of simple white.
    Nothing but a rose in her hair
      At Mrs. Brown's that night,
    The fairest of them all
      She stood, with blushes red,
    While bright the gaslight shone
      Upon her lovely head.

"That poem, now, was what started the feud."

"I don't see anything wrong with the poem," said the reporter. "It
seems a little crude, but contains nothing to give offense."

"Well," said the old resident, "the poem was all right as it was
written. The trouble originated in the newspaper office. The morning
after it was sent in the society editress got hold of it first. She is
an old maid and she didn't think the second line quite proper, so she
ran her pencil through it. Then the advertising manager prowled around
through the editor's mail as usual, and read the poem. Old Brown owed
the office $17 back subscription, and the advertising manager struck
out the fourth line. He said old Brown shouldn't get any free
advertising in that office.

"Then the editor's wife happened to come in to see if there was any
square, perfumed envelopes among his mail, and she read it. She was at
the Brown's party herself, and when she read the line that proclaimed
Miss Judkins 'The fairest of them all' she turned up her nose and
scratched that out.

"Then the editor himself got hold of it. He is heavily interested in
our new electric light plant, and his blue pencil jumped on the line
'While bright the gaslight shone' in a hurry. Later on one of the
printers came in and grabbed a lot of copy, and this poem was among
it. You know what printers will do if you give them a chance, so here
is the way the poem came out in the paper:

    To Miss Judkins
    (Visiting Mrs. T. Montcalm Brown.)

    "We loved to see her wear
    Nothing but a rose in her hair.
    She stood with blushes red
    Upon her lovely head.

"And you see," continued the old resident, "the Judkinses got mad."
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