"The Passing of Black Eagle" by "O. Henry" (Willliam Sydney Porter) (first published in Ainslee's Magazine; reprinted many times, including in the author's collection Roads of Destiny, 1909; Short Story Magazine [Australia] #11, 1945; The Second Reel West, edited by Bill Pronzinwith& Martin H. Greenberg. 1985; The Railroaders, edited by Bill Pronzini & Martin H. Greenberg, 1986; Best of the West II, edited by Bill Pronzini & Martin H. Greenberg, 1990; Sagebrush and Spurs: Classic Western Stories, edited by Eric Tripp, 1992; and Stories of the Old West, edited by John Seelye, 2000, and is available to be read at numerous sites on the internet. The story has also been filmed at least twice, first with the 1920 silent short The Passing of Black Eagle, directed by and starring Joe Ryan, then with 1948's Black Eagle, directed by Robert Gordon and starring William Bishop [the 1948 film disposed of most of the story's plot, changed the character's name, and added a murder mystery and a love interest]; the story was also adapted for the radio at least once -- for CBS Radio Mystery Theater, January 11, 1977)
Black Eagle..."For some months of a certain year a grim bandit infested the Texas border along the Rio Grande." His frightening visage and his rough, loud voice terrorized the locals to the point that parents would warn their children to behave, else the Black Eagle would scoop them up with his horrible beak. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished -- even his gang had no idea what had happened to him.
To understand the story, you would have to go back some months to St. louis and to an alcoholic hobo named Chicken Ruggles, so named because of his large bird-like nose and his fondness for chicken (whenever he could get it for free). One cold afternoon, as winter was approaching, Chicken Ruggles spotted a young boy looking longingly at the window of a candy shop. He also spotted the silver dollar that the lad held tightly in his fist. The boy had been given the money by his mother to buy some paragoric at the druggist (cost ten cents; the change was to be wrapped in papar, secured in the boy's pocket, and returned to the mother). Chicken Ruggles had just one nickle to his name, as well as a gift for scamming. He used the nickle he had to buy candy for the boy (chocolate creams were his favorite), and offered to accompany the lad to the pharmacy. There, while the boy was gorging on candy, he used the silver dollar to buy the medicine, wrapped an overcoat button in paper, which he put in the boy's pocket, and saw him home, then left with the ninety cents change, which he converted to a bottle of very cheap liquor and a paper bag of bread and cheese. Chicken Ruggles then hopped on an empty rail car, and made himself comfortable while the car began its travels south to Texas, where Chicken Ruggles expected to spend a warm winter season in San Antonio.
The journey took several days and Chicken Ruggles relaxed to enjoy the ride. Perhaps he relaxed a bit too much, becasue when the train stopped in San Antonio, he was fast asleep, and remained so when the train pulled out and headed further south to Laredo. When Chicken Ruggles woke up he found that his railroad car, along with two others, had been shunted to a lonely siding near a cattle pen and a chute, about one hundred miles from any town. Chicken Ruggles had read a bit about Texas and he knew there were many dangerous and terrifying things therein -- "snakes, rats, brigands, centipedes, mirages, cowboys, fandangoes, tarantualas, tamales -- " But then he heard the one thing he was not afraid of because he had been raised on a farm: the whicker of a horse. So he saddled up the horse and headed across the lonely prairie in search of a town, a farm, a house, a friendly face, shelter, or perhaps liquor, and failing that, food.
Eventually, he came across a small homestead. No one was about, but inside he found a goodly cache of liquor and some clean clothes...
Bud King ran a gang of cattle and horse thieves. They weren't the worse gang to plague the area but they were active, often plundering small towns when there were no cattle or horses to steal. One evening, up rode this strange fellow with a large beak, demanding loudly that he be fed. The gang wasn't sure what to do about him, but in this part of the country, you always fed a stranger, even if you were going to shoot him later. This stranger was loud and friendly and ate a lot and told all sorts of stories about his adventures and Bud King's gang took a liking to this bragging person. They asked him to join them, which he did. Chicken Ruggles was not a vicious person but his appearance was formidable. With his roaring voice, he cowed his victims, and he soon became a legend. The gang nicknamed hinm "Piggy," but the Mexicans in the area gave him a much beetter name -- Black Eagle. After three months, the reputation of Bud King's gang (Bud was still the head of the gang, although the Black Eagle was the most feared member) was so great that the army was sent in to track them down.
Bud King decided that rather than risk a battle with the troops and certain injuries to his gang, they would cease operations temporarily. This did not sit well with the gang, who wanted to continue their hell-raising ways. Black Eagle began telling them that they were wasting their time stealing cattle and horses -- a labor and time-intensive activity -- when they could make far more money quicker by robbing trains. The gang liked this idea and approached Bud King. King agreed to stand aside and let Black Eagle take over the gang temporarily to see if the train robbing gambit would work. Somehow a drunk Black Eagle devised a workable plan to rob a train.
But when it came time to rob the train, Chicken Ruggles noted it had an empty boxcar with ecelsior ("dry, springy, curly, soft, enticing") lining its floor. Outside, a drizzle had turned to rain. He made himself comfortable with his ever-present bottle as the train started up again, St. Louis bound, where the cold winter months were now over. Meanwhile, the gang of would-be train robbers waited in vain for Black Eagle's signal to attack...
O. Henry, one of the most popular authors of the twentueth century, wrote over hundreds of short stories, many of which -- "The Gift of the Magi," "The Ransom of Red Chief," "The Cop and the Anthem," "A Retrieced Reformation," The Duplicity of Hargreaves," and "The Caballero's Way" among them -- are considered modern classics. Along the way he gave us such enduring characteers as The Cisco Kid and Jimmy Valentine. O. Henry's stories are noted for their deft characterization, witty narration, and surprise endings.
O. Henry died in 1910 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina. According to cemetery officials, since at least 1993, people had been leavin $1.87 in change on his grave -- $1.87 being the amnount of Delia's savings at the beginning of "The Gift of the Magi." The money collected is then given to local libaries
While not in the top tier of O. Henry stories, "The Passing of Black Eagle" is a charming, witty, and altogether engaging tale.
It would not be stetching things to say that all of O. Henry's stories are worth reading.
