After Twenty Years
Complete textOn a cold New York night, a policeman encounters a man waiting outside a darkened shop. The stranger explains that he has returned to keep an appointment made with an old friend twenty years earlier, confident that their friendship has endured.
Continue readingAbout After Twenty Years
A brief street conversation establishes two different kinds of loyalty before the story tests their compatibility. Light, darkness and the stranger's account of success control what can be recognized. The compact narration makes the reader weigh remembered character against the evidence available in a single present encounter.
Reading focus
Attend to visibility, personal recognition and the competing claims of friendship and public duty.
This reading edition contains 1,263 words in 1 original section. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: O Henry. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. The impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for spectators were few. The time was barely 10 o’clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind with a taste of rain in them had well nigh de-peopled the streets.
Contents
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Is this the complete After Twenty Years?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 1 section and 1,263 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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