O. Henry’s Short Story, ‘To Him Who Waits’

“The Hermit,” 1889, by Mikhail Nesterov. The Hermit of the Hudson receives a visit from a lady. Public Domain

In most cases, patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. Yet there are times when we shouldn’t wait, for that special opportunity may never come again.

In his short story, “To Him Who Waits“ (1909), O. Henry (1862–1910) follows the Hermit of the Hudson, who is given a second chance at love. Through the hermit’s story, Henry shows that when great opportunities arise in our life, we must be willing to act immediately.

The Hermit of the Hudson

The 40-year-old Hermit of the Hudson has lived alone for 10 years. He makes his solitary home in a cave in the Catskills. He has long hair, a long, forked beard, and simple clothes made of sewn gunnysacks.

People in the neighboring area know him “as a scholar of brilliant intellect who had forsworn the world because he had been jilted in a love affair.” The guests of a nearby inn often visit him, marveling at “his store of knowledge, wit, and scintillating philosophy.”

One day, Beatrix Trenholme comes from the inn to the hermit’s cave to converse with the hermit. She lives with her mother and confesses that when her mother had an attack of neuralgia, she was able to sneak away.

During their conversation, Beatrix exclaims that it must be wonderful to be a hermit, for a hermit does not deal with any worldly problems. She sighs, saying, “I think it must be delightful to be a hermit. ... Oh, why can’t there be lady hermits, too!”

She then asks him about his love affair, asking if the woman he had loved was beautiful. He admits that she was beautiful. He says: “Then I thought the world could never contain another equal to her. So I forsook it and repaired to this mountain fastness to spend the remainder of my life alone—to devote and dedicate my remaining years to her memory.”

She then asks the hermit whether hermits ever marry. Many hermits marry, he says. But Beatrix wonders: “But they’re hermits ... because they’ve lost the right one, aren’t they?” He says that they become hermits because they think that they’ve lost the right one. But wisdom often reveals the falsity of this belief.

A Requested Visit

After their charming conversation, Beatrix announces that she must leave but that she would like the hermit to visit her at the inn. She then leaves, saying that she will expect him to visit her “any evening except Thursday.”

The hermit returns to his cave, thinking about nothing else except Beatrix. He then receives another visitor who has him thinking more intently about Beatrix.

Through this story, Henry urges us to take opportunities when they come to us. Rather than waiting and overthinking, we should seize the opportunity and never look back.

Henry’s story concurs with Audrey Hepburn’s comment: “Opportunities don’t often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them.”

Opportunities come and go. Some take years to arrive. Sometimes time is of the essence to take advantage of a wonderful possibility for love. When it does arrive, grab it, hold it, and cherish it as a rare gift.

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