Lucky Either Way

"Lucky Either Way" by O. Henry is a short story that explores themes of chance and the unpredictability of fortune. The narrative centers around two characters who find themselves at a crossroads, faced with decisions that can dramatically alter their lives. O. Henry's signature style is evident through his clever use of irony and witty dialogue, culminating in a twist that reveals the true nature of luck and the ways we often misinterpret our circumstances. The story captures the essence of human emotion and the serendipitous moments that define our destinies.

• Short story

								
The Memphis Commercial-Appeal, in commenting on errors in grammar made
by magazines, takes exception to an error in construction occurring in
Gode's Magazine in which, in J. H. Connelly's story entitled
"Mr. Pettigrew's Bad Dog," a character is made to say: "You will be
lucky if you escape with only marrying one."

A man says this to another one who is being besieged by two ladies,
and the Commercial-Appeal thinks he intended to say: "You will be
lucky if you escape with marrying only one."

Now, after considering the question, it seems likely that there is
more in Mr. J. H. Connelly's remark than is dreamed of in the
philosophy of the Commercial-Appeal.

The history of matrimony gives color to the belief that, to whichever
one of the ladies the gentleman might unite himself, he would be lucky
if he escaped with only marrying her. Getting married is the easiest
part of the affair. It is what comes afterward that makes a man
sometimes wish a wolf had carried him into the forest when he was a
little boy. It takes only a little nerve, a black coat, from five to
ten dollars, and a girl, for a man to get married. Very few men are
lucky enough to escape with only marrying a woman. Women are sometimes
so capricious and unreasonable that they demand that a man stay around
afterward, and board and clothe them, and build fires, and chop wood,
and rock the chickens out of the garden, and tell the dressmaker when
to send in her bill again.

We would like to read "Mr. Pettigrew's Bad Dog" and find out whether
the man was lucky enough to only marry the lady, or whether she held
on to him afterward and didn't let him escape.
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