"deep as first love, and wild with all regret"—Tennyson, The Princess, Part IV, Song:
"Deep as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more."
One must wonder whether O. Henry remembered these lines because of the untimely death of his young first wife Athol, whom he loved dearly.
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cañada—(Spanish) a sheep camp or ranch
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San Miguel Creek flows into the Frio south of San Antonio near the ranches where O. Henry lived in his youth.
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The Nueces River is one of the major rivers of West Texas, running roughly parallel to and west of the Frio.
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Palestine is a town in East Texas, but Jud mistakes it for the Holy Land.
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